Who’s Your Baby’s Mama?

So where do I begin with a film that has received such acclaim? How about I start with, Knocked Up is no where near deserving of all the praise. Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that no funny films have been released lately or perhaps it’s the halo effect of the writers. I laughed, but by the end of the film I realized that I really was underwhelmed by the film. There have been worse, but I actually thought Blades of Glory was a better film. Am I out of the loop, or have a just decided to leave the flock and look for better films than the ones being offered by Hollywood.

From what I heard, Knocked Up was the next killer comedy. Wait, I’ve heard that before when Napoleon Dynamite came out. Yeah, I’m still waiting for that to be funny. You know it seems that every once in awhile a comedy comes out that is billed as the funniest thing yet while still remaining slightly out of the mainstream. Give it a week and the hype machine is in full effect. The hipsters love the film because they found it first, but everyone buys into it because they think they are cool for doing what the hipsters do. Here’s an idea, don’t just love a film because it has mildly successful unknown writers and stars. So Freaks and Geeks lasted for a season and then got canned, get over it. somehow out of this people have come to worship Judd Apatow. Now before you go off in a tizzy, I’m not saying Apatow is a bad writer; in fact this film is better than many other films. However, my enjoyment comes from the ability to watch this with my wife. It may be just the combination of a mildly funny romantic comedy and a mildly humorous frat boy film. Thank god Dan Cook isn’t starring.

So here’s the story. Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is behind the scenes worker for E! when she is given the chance to work in front of the camera. To celebrate, here and her sister Debbie (Leslie Mann) go out for a night on the town. There she meets Ben Stone (Seth Rogan), a lovable pot smoking joke Mr. Skin ripoff website creator and general slacker. In a scene straight from Shakespeare, they get drunk and have sex. Alison becomes pregnant and the two try to become a family, eventually falling in, out, and in love. Wait a second, I’ve seen that formula before. Oh right, every romantic comedy has it. In a parallel narrative, we discover that Debbie and her husband Pete (Paul Rudd) are also experiencing bad times. What puts this movie beyond just a romantic comedy is the interaction between Ben and his hapless band of pot and porntrepreneurs. They provide the gross-outs.

You know, the more I write this the less I’m finding I like the film. I thought the acting was bit off. Seth Rogan was difficult to buy as a love interest no matter how much you drink. Besides that, he goes into this mumble speak every once in awhile which makes him difficult to understand. Not that Katherine Heigl is much better. She is gorgeous and believable, however I just cannot make a connection with her character. Because of these two actors, I left with a who cares attitude. I though the much better connection was made between Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd. Imagine the film if they had a bigger role? Well, it may not have made the film much better but it would be worth a shot. The best acting came from Ryan Seacrest in his little outburst. That made me laugh!

Overall, Knocked Up is an anomaly in terms of its genre and its success. It tries to be different for the sake of being different. Is there potential? Absolutely, Apatow does have a knack for comedy; it just needs to be developed. I’d like to think that this is just practice for the great comedies to follow. So here’s my recommendation. Watch the film if your looking for a good date movie but do not expect too much. You will laugh but your butt will get sore as the film drags on, which makes it great for a date because you can find something else to do once the film reaches its formulaic end.