Knocked Up

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Summary:
After a drunken one night stand, a beautiful woman ends up pregnant from the seed of a deplorable, jobless stoner. They decide to keep the baby, and learn more about each other during the 9 month gestation.

Review:
I am a big fan of the somewhat flawed, but definetely heartfelt and entertaining 40 Year Old Virgin, and the next Apatow installment is this gem.
First and foremost, the comedy can be nasty and perverted, but it never goes into the realm of harsh and uncaring. It's just a bunch of crude dudes harping on each other, like you would catch from a group of guys that are close friends who have fun making fun of each other. They are a great group of idiotic stoners, but in the end, they are there for one another no matter what happens.
Seth Rogan is a likable enough guy as Ben Stone(r), working best with the charm by his unflinching honesty as to what he likes and does with his life. Alison has probably not been used to meeting someone like Ben, who admits his appreciation for porn, his lack of funds and propensity for the pot from day one, date one. The most unbelievable part of this whole movie is the obvious; why would Alison see something in him that a woman of that style and caliber would find? It's not likely that she'd even give him a second look no matter WHAT level of sobriety or inebriation she's in, but somehow we're led to believe that she does see something that she wouldn't expect from him. OK, so it felt a little forced, but she also seems like a genuinely nice woman who perhaps ISN'T so shortsighted that she thinks beauty is only skin deep. I'm willing to go along with it, because it was pulled off just convincingly enough for me to fall for it while watching the movie. Only in retrospect do I start to get that nagging suspicion that shit like this just DOES NOT happen in real life. I mean lookit me, I'm still alone and lonely after how many years? 'Nuff said.

Apatow plays it right when it comes to making a nasty comedy. He is the master of the Raunch Dramedy; the raunchy dramatic comedy. Unlike 95% of those other comedies of this style, he knows that the most important element is in keeping these people close to your heart. Just like he did in Virgin, he knows when to keep from pushing too far with things. It's a subtle and glorious thing to allow me all that laughter without feeling guilty or sorry for one particular person, because no one is singled out. The whole cast is made fun of, but never in a way that feels hateful or spiteful. I like these guys! I want Alison to give Ben a chance, and - however ridiculous it seems in retrospect - she does.
The driving force behind the comedy is the cast, but just as important is their dramatic chops. I can't say enough how well each of them worked off one another. Ben's group of guys isn't just there to be a barrel of laughs, they also become Ben's impetus for coming to grips with adulthood (obvious), and to also be his most substantial emotional support group to help him deal with the shock of becoming an unexpected father (the gem). On the one hand, he has to learn to get more initiative in his life and stop wasting away on pipe dreams and bong hits. The other side of it is that his closest friends are not his biggest crutch, because without them he might not have been able to deal with his situation as well as he did.
Alison's dramatic dilemmas present the difficulties of dealing with the family's reaction to her predicament. Once again, she herself has the support and love of her sister's family, while also giving her and Seth a perspective on their possible married futures, if that was the direction they intended to go. Between Ben and Alison, I was presented with several perspectives to the circumstances of unexpected impregnation, and saw the situation from many different angles. Bravo, Mr. Apatow!

The coolest thing about all of this is that I don't need to notice or point out these things to enjoy Knocked Up. It can also work on its most superficial level. The comedy is constant from open to close, and I had my share of loud boastful outbursts. In between those numerous nuggets of riffing genius, I was also touched by Ben's misguided desire to do the best he can for Alison (I love his explaining to a roommate the reason behind the box and the ring). I never felt like crying because of the love and beauty of it all, but I had enough emotional investment to hope for the best for ALL these people.
However far from reality a situation like this could become in the real world, everything that unfolds over those nine movie months covers up the movie's most obvious flaw. Actually, what this movie did for me was give me a small snippet of hope. If HE can win the heart of a beautiful woman who seems to be leagues above him, then maybe - just MAYBE - this fairy tale can become a reality for someone like me.
Then I wake up and remember that it's just a movie.

GRADE:  A

Reviewed 9/30/07