Review of This Is 40 (2012) by Jay_Sherman — 25 Apr 2013

Don't waste your time on this dud. Judd Apatow has made and/or produced some funny movies. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", "Superbad", "Bridesmaids" were all good comedies. "The 40 Year Old Virgin" was okay. "Knocked Up" (to which "This Is 40" is sort of a sequel to) was mediocre while "Pineapple Express" stunk. He executive produces on HBO's rather entertaining "Girls".

The main problem with this movie is that the main characters are basically a pair of privileged, lying, mean-spirited, manipulative white people and it's really hard to care about them and their first world problems. There were times when the couple were almost relatable but then they'd go and do something borderline sociopathic and I was right back to hating them. This couple were okay as supporting characters in "Knocked Up", but really can't carry their own movie so one is left wondering why Apatow thought this would be a good idea.

I am a parent. I understand what it is to love your kids and want to give them every opportunity to succeed in life. That said, Judd Apatow has got to stop thinking that letting his irritating daughters, Iris and Maude, act in his movies is a good idea. It's bad enough that the characters they are playing are given crappy material to work with, but it's made far worse that neither of these little hellspawn munchkins could act their way out of wet brown paper bag. Every scene they're in is excruciating.

Some of the cameo appearances by Apatow regulars are fun. Some are not so fun. Charlyne Yi as Jodi is painfully unfunny, especially in a scene in a coffee shop where her character is high on oxycodone and starts doing these really bad croaky voices. Charlyne Yi is undoubtedly a better actress than Megan Fox, and yet Fox's character is infinitely more watchable and definitely much more likeable. Scenes like this one seem to have been written (or more likely improvised) in the hopes of making stoners laugh. I wouldn't have found that s*** funny even in the days when I did smoke pot.

This movie stinks. Save yourself the boredom, pain, and two hours you'll never get back and skip this sucker...