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Pregnancy is so hot right now. Gwen and Gavin, Brad and Angelina, Tom and Katie, Shrek and Fiona, and about 90% of my friends and family agree: pregnant is the new black.
Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl), however, had no intention of following the pregnancy trend. She had a plan for her life—one that finally started coming together when her boss promoted her, giving her the chance to do on-camera interviews for E! To celebrate, Alison headed out to the bar for a few drinks—and ended up taking a guy home with her. After breakfast on the morning after, Alison had no intention of seeing overweight slacker Ben Stone (Seth Rogan) ever again. But then a bad case of morning sickness and about 20 pregnancy tests confirmed Alison’s greatest fear.
Determined to have the baby, Alison is also determined to build some sort of friendship with the baby’s less-than-ideal dad. She and Ben are total opposites—but that’s part of Knocked Up’s appeal. On one hand, there’s straight-laced Alison, whose life is carefully planned. She has a good job. She’s responsible (except for that one night of indiscretion). And she lives in a neat one-room guesthouse owned by her sister, Debbie (Leslie Mann), and her brother-in-law, Pete (Paul Rudd). Heigl is perfect for the role. She’s cute and sometimes a little bit clueless, but she creates a strong character who can take care of herself. She’s like a smarter Jessica Simpson. One who can act.
But Rogan is equally adorable as Ben, the lovable loser. He’s an illegal alien who lives in a run-down house with four fellow slackers—just a bunch of overgrown party animals who live on beer and pot. He has no money and no real job—except for his roommates’ web project, which involves watching movies and recording the exact timing of any nudity. Despite the fact that you want to smack him upside the head from time to time, you’ll love him anyway—especially since you probably have a little brother (or an old college friend) who’s just like him.
Knocked Up is a long movie, though—one that could have been a little bit tighter and about a half hour shorter. At times, it drags a bit, and it feels as though you’re experiencing Alison’s pregnancy in real time. You may even fear that nine whole months will pass before it’s over. But, fortunately, the cast manages to keep things interesting—and some of the funniest scenes are thrown in when you least expect them. I should warn you, however, that the birth scenes are pretty brutal—especially for the female members of the audience, who will most likely rush home afterwards to overdose on birth control pills.
Although it doesn’t have the same non-stop, wildly over-the-top humor as director Judd Apatow’s last movie, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up ultimately has a wider audience. There’s plenty of crude humor for the guys, and there’s also a cute love story for the chicks. It’s a surprising mix of slacker comedy and chick flick. And while it may not do either perfectly, it actually pulls off both pretty well.
