Review of Knocked Up (2007) by Josh M — 12 Sep 2014

The United States of America has been brainwashed. Somehow, so many American movie fans and critics believe the Judd Apatow/Seth Rogen films are historic high points of American comedy. I understand this phenomenon because I was a part of it; it took me years to realize they're just not all that funny. In the case of Knocked Up, it is thought of as an uproarious sex comedy, but in reality is a cautionary tale against marriage, and in this function is very effective. It is the most troubling and sad of any of the Apatow movies, at least that I've seen (I haven't seen Funny People and I don't intend to). The central duo of Rogen and Katherine Heigl (referenced in the title) are overshadowed by the Paul Rudd/Leslie Mann couple, who've married and stayed that way because of kids. It is a miserable union between two obnoxious people, and its hard to know which is the chicken or the egg. Rudd's Pete is a passive-agressive sad sack, while Mann's Debbie is a horrific portrait of petty vindictiveness; I can't off the top of my head think of a more unpleasant female character. Katherine Heigl was right about the women in this movie.

This film makes an impression, just not the one that is intended. The message that gets through is that the real danger of an unexpected child isn't that it could throw your life into disarray; the real danger is that it could lead to marriage. Knocked up is the best argument against persisting in that institution that there is. Go figure that the miserable Debbie and Pete got a sequel. if this couple was relatable enough that giving them their own movie seemed a financially sound decision for a movie studio...wow, that tells us something dreadful about marriages in this country.

Judd Apatow films have the reputation of being full of dirty jokes but also traditional family values, savoring adolescent prurience but venerating grown up stability. Its hard to buy this when he seems like such a miserable fuck. He seems to have everything most people want, so I can only wonder if the Rudd/Mann relationship is what his marriage to Mann is actually like. Its hard to believe, as having seen Leslie Mann in interviews she doesn't seem at all like her horrible character in Knocked Up. Judd Apatow doesn't appear to have any reason to be this miserable, but it seems that being miserable is what he thinks being a parent and adult is all about. It makes his veneration of family values look not just perfunctory but absolutely dishonest.

This review focused almost entirely on the supporting characters, but that is what is memorable. The movie thinks it is in the vein of Animal House and Cheech and Chong, but I think it is closer to American Beauty, or Long Days Journey into Night. I don't know whether that makes it a failure, or an unfortunate success. What it does is show that the aforementioned Apatow template is rendered worthless by his own hand. Stay young, poor, stupid and vulgar! Leaving behind roommates, bongs and chronic unemployment for this version of grown up success would be the worst decision a person could make. One desperately hopes the baby doesn't cause the Rogen and Heigl characters to marry.