Knocked Up

A goofy jobless pothead Canadian (I just described myself) somehow manages to have intercourse with a super-hot successful blonde, and is more than happy with that one drunken evening memory alone, but when the girl calls him 2 months later to say that she’s pregnant with his baby, the goofy jobless pothead has to seriously start to reconsider his goofiness, joblessness and pothead-ness. Will he be able to grow up enough to take care of the baby and love the girl, or will he continue his errant ways? Stay tuned!!

A fun, relevant, raunchy and often hilarious movie that as per THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN, manages to mix a decent amount of hearty laughs and slick one-liners with romance, man-on-woman stuff and yes, even a touch of emotion. Apparently, life isn’t all giggles and shit. There’s some actual people-to-people stuff in there as well. And you gotta give props to the big man behind the aforementioned film and this one, Judd Apatow, who along with his cast of good friends and funny comedians (or both), manages to ride that thin wave between the two genres, and effectively hits them both straight on the head. That said, not every joke or bit worked in the film and it definitely went on a little too long, but overall it balanced itself out fairly nicely, and even managed to toss some T&A in there for the kids. Oh and did I mention that star Seth Rogen and his Jewish buddies were hilarious in many a way, starting with all of their immaturity, lack of seeming connection to the real world (yeah guys, there’s a website called Mr. Skin!) and infinite wisdom when it comes to anything to do with movies (loved all of the film references and “got them” all). I also liked that their main inspiration from day to day seemed to be where & when they would be smoking their next joint…and how! (loved the “fish bowl over the head” idea, dudes, thanks for the tip)

The women in the film also racked up some points with Katherine Heigl not blowing my balls off per se, but certainly looking super-hot (maybe a little too hot for the dude in the film…sorry guys, that’s like Sandler and all of his hottie girlfriends), while the director’s wife, Leslie Mann, delivered in her usual laughs, but also added some dramatic touches as well. And even though I really liked her and even moreso the actor portraying her husband in the flick (the always-fantastic Paul Rudd!), the focus on their lives went a little too deep and wasn’t really all that interesting (and the scene in which she tracks him down in that house…didn’t feel real). I wouldn’t have minded if they had removed some of their back-and-forths and focused more on the lead couple. Like I said, the film definitely felt about 20-25 minutes overweight, so maybe there’s some fat that could have been trimmed. But overall, the film featured several memorable and laugh-out-loud sequences and cameos (Kristin Wiig was funny, the Seacrest sequence was solid), solidified Rogen as leading man material (go Canada!!) and entertained via a realistic situation to which many people in the audience could relate, as well as plenty of realistic dialogue to which I identified in a major way. Loved the swearing…yay, we’re adults!! See it with your girlfriend or girlfriend-to-be and get into many “interesting” conversations afterwards. And oh yeah, use a condom. “See you, Scorsese on coke.” Classic! PS: I’m off to see Cirque du Soleil.

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian