Saturday, June 23, 2007

Knocked Up (2007)

Overall rating from 1 to 100: 28

O Masterpiece (95-100)
O Excellent (75-94)
O Good video rental (60-74)
O Merely OK (50-59)
O Pure mediocrity (30-49)
X Medusa: don't watch (1-29)

Review by Jason Pyles / June 23, 2007

There are two comedies currently in theaters about expectant mothers who are lamenting their unplanned pregnancies: “Waitress” and “Knocked Up.” The first is like hot apple pie and the second like toxic sludge.

Some critics are calling “Knocked Up” ‘the perfect date movie.’ If you never believe another word I write, believe this warning: Never subject your sweetheart to “Knocked Up” ... or yourself, for that matter.

Don’t be fooled by the warm-hearted, romantic-comedy trailers. This is strictly “a guy’s movie,” piggish guys. The title should give us a big hint: Ladies call it “pregnant” or “expecting.” Guys call it “knocked up.” This is nothing more than a vulgar, tasteless, sex comedy. Making truly funny comedies about sex is delicate and complicated. It takes wit, timing, and finesse, all foreign concepts to “Knocked Up.”

Ben (Seth Rogen) is a professional slacker. He lives the care free, apathetic, easy life of a loser. He and his friends sit around smoking pot, notating the specifics of cinematic sex scenes. For income, the salacious degenerates plan to host a Web site that provides how far into a movie it takes to show nudity, for how long and which actresses. Very classy.

Alison (Katherine Heigl) just got a promotion at E! (the Entertainment News Channel). To celebrate, she and her sister go out to a bar. Alison meets Ben, gets drunk and takes him home. They have a drunken one-night stand. She gets pregnant.

The premise of the movie, as is suggested by its trailers, is that Alison and Ben decide to keep the baby and try to get to know each other to see what happens. That sounds like it has the potential to be a funny, heartwarming romance, right? But this film afflicts us with a constant barrage of filth and junior high, locker-room humor.

I laughed only two and a half times, and each was an impersonation: once was an impression of Jabba the Hut, the second was Paul Rudd’s dead-on impression of Robert De Niro and the third was an unfair, rather cruel imitation of scientific genius Stephen Hawking. (I quickly came to my senses and refused to be amused.)

“Knocked Up” is a dirty, nasty little movie, and I recommend avoiding it like a rambunctious wet dog. Unless you’re watching “The Miracle of Life” for Sex Ed. class, close-up shots of the birthing process are way overboard.

Directed by Judd Apatow
Seth Rogen / Katherine Heigl / Paul Rudd
129 min. Comedy
MPAA: R (for sexual content, drug use and language)

Copyright 2007.
JP0133 : 398

posted by Jason Pyles, Movie Reviewer @ 1:48 PM
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