'Knocked Up' gives birth to comedy form
By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, September 23, 2007
"Knocked Up" was one of the biggest hits of the summer. It gave director Judd Apatow a blank check in Hollywood and cleared the way for films like "Superbad."
But why? "Knocked Up" isn't as funny as some say it is.
Perhaps that's because the premise never rings true -- beautiful woman becomes pregnant with slacker's child, then learns to like the guy.
Had Katherine Heigl's character had a bit more back story, it might fly. But here, it's like the missing link.
Why would she want to be with this guy? In this day of hook-ups, "making it work" seems like the last consideration. Settle for a man who's crude at best? What happened to all the honorable catches?
Apatow doesn't give Heigl options. This is a take-it-or-leave-it situation. And that's its weakness.
Accept it, and you'll find the humor -- particularly when Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd turn up as Heigl's sister and brother-in-law. They've been married for years and now seem at an impasse. The spark is gone, but they've got kids and a commitment. Happy? Perhaps. But it doesn't show. That affects Heigl's outlook and makes her decision to stick with Seth Rogen -- the father of her unborn child -- acceptable.
In the film, the two meet by accident at a bar. He goes home with her and, eight weeks later, she discovers she's pregnant. She tells him the news and he says he wants to do the right thing. They attempt something of a relationship. But these are disparate worlds. She's an anchor at the E! channel. He's a deadbeat hoping to get a Web site launched with his friends. Its subject: sex scenes in films.
Apatow captures the friends' life to a T. They sit around debating worthless subjects, avoid editing their language and offer dares at the drop of a bong.
Heigl's world is pretty realistic, too. She's stuck in this red carpet world where celebrities are jerks (note the Ryan Seacrest meltdown) and co-workers are conniving.
Putting the two together, though, doesn't seem right. He says the wrong thing. She cries.
"The 40-year-old Virgin," another Apatow film, succeeded at making us understand the misunderstood. "Knocked Up" doesn't try. It shocks routinely (with stuff that'll make you laugh if you're alone, cringe if you're with someone) and has a "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" snarkiness. At times, its view is so dark you'll think it's cinema verite.
Apatow, though, is a smart filmmaker. He knows how to tap into an untapped market and shine the light on subjects that haven't been examined. "Knocked Up," a good film with a great premise, just doesn't get over itself. It's like being a sitcom writers' room -- everyone tosses something out to either top someone else or impress.
It succeeds. But to what end? Are we better off having seen "Knocked Up"? Or just surprised that someone has tackled the subject without stooping to "American Pie" levels?
Heigl and Rogen are fine; Mann and Rudd are even better. "Knocked Up" will make lots of money, prompt teenagers to quote its lines and give birth to another school of comedy. But it succeeds largely because so much that passes for comedy these days is weak. It's not "Vacation," "Animal House" or even "The 40-year-old Virgin."
It's just something different.
Also: 'Evening'
"Evening" boasts a who's who of actresses -- Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave, Glenn Close -- but it's a pretty slow grind until Streep shows up. She appears in the last half hour as Redgrave's lifelong friend. They reminisce about the past and, then, Streep puts the whole film in perspective.
Her brief moment is a real tearjerker and the only reason we can find to see the film.
Done in a whole lot of flashbacks, "Evening" recalls a young woman's wedding day. Her best friend is the maid of honor and both have a thing for a young physician (Patrick Wilson). During the course of the day, we meet the bride's drunken brother (Hugh Dancy), her pinched mom (Glenn Close) and a number of friends who help make this an unforgettable experience.
The film -- based on a book by Susan Minot -- hinges on the coulda, shoulda, woulda theory. Should the bride (played by Streep's real-life daughter Mamie Gummer) cancel the wedding and run off with the doctor? Could the maid of honor (played by Claire Danes) betray her friend and strike up her own relationship? Would the brother straighten out if he wasn't viewed as a burden to everyone?
While Redgrave (the older version of Danes' character) lies in bed, the story flashes back and we see various and sundry pairings. Redgrave's daughters (played by Toni Collette and Natasha Richardson, Redgrave's real-life daughter...keep up with us on this) wonder what mom is babbling on about and, eventually, we get the full picture.
Like "The Notebook," "Evening" lays the groundwork, then punches its message. It's not a knockout punch, but it does have impact. Without Streep -- who can galvanize any film -- it wouldn't. She summarizes so well you can just see Redgrave's wheels turning as she listens. It's a master class in acting when the two lie in bed, talking about old times. They don't need any special effects or amazing dialogue, just a few well-placed gestures and a lot of necessary pauses.
Interestingly, Gummer looks and sounds just like her mother. The two are a perfect match -- more so than Redgrave and Danes. The leap is so great you'll wonder, at times, which one it is Danes is playing.
Still, the "old" scenes have an authenticity that crackles. Close is pitch perfect in two key scenes; she knows the territory, she's familiar with the characters. That helps set up the class division and make the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" work.
"Evening," though, isn't fresh stuff. At least three similar films come to mind (including "The Notebook") that were better. Lajos Koltai's direction almost gives you whiplash from its back-and-forth motion.
Here, though, the key is the women -- and the man. Wilson does his usual good job as the object of affection and leaves enough out, emotionally, to make this anything but connect the dots.
While there are times when you wonder where it's all headed, the end justifies the means. The end, that is, when Streep pays her visit. Without it, this "Evening" might be less than a good night.
Also this week:
Movies: "Alone in the Dark"; "As You Like It"; "Babel" "Black Book"; "The Bronx is Burning"; "Bug"; "Count Dracula"; "Cujo"; "Demons"; "Eat My Dust"; "Full of It"; "The Intruder"; "Next"; "Severance"
TV: "King of
Queens," season nine; "My Name is Earl," season two; "Sthe Streets of San Francisco," season one; "The Unit," season two: "The Untouchables," season one; "What About Brian," seasons one and two.
But why? "Knocked Up" isn't as funny as some say it is.
Perhaps that's because the premise never rings true -- beautiful woman becomes pregnant with slacker's child, then learns to like the guy.
Had Katherine Heigl's character had a bit more back story, it might fly. But here, it's like the missing link.
Why would she want to be with this guy? In this day of hook-ups, "making it work" seems like the last consideration. Settle for a man who's crude at best? What happened to all the honorable catches?
Apatow doesn't give Heigl options. This is a take-it-or-leave-it situation. And that's its weakness.
Accept it, and you'll find the humor -- particularly when Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd turn up as Heigl's sister and brother-in-law. They've been married for years and now seem at an impasse. The spark is gone, but they've got kids and a commitment. Happy? Perhaps. But it doesn't show. That affects Heigl's outlook and makes her decision to stick with Seth Rogen -- the father of her unborn child -- acceptable.
In the film, the two meet by accident at a bar. He goes home with her and, eight weeks later, she discovers she's pregnant. She tells him the news and he says he wants to do the right thing. They attempt something of a relationship. But these are disparate worlds. She's an anchor at the E! channel. He's a deadbeat hoping to get a Web site launched with his friends. Its subject: sex scenes in films.
Apatow captures the friends' life to a T. They sit around debating worthless subjects, avoid editing their language and offer dares at the drop of a bong.
Heigl's world is pretty realistic, too. She's stuck in this red carpet world where celebrities are jerks (note the Ryan Seacrest meltdown) and co-workers are conniving.
Putting the two together, though, doesn't seem right. He says the wrong thing. She cries.
"The 40-year-old Virgin," another Apatow film, succeeded at making us understand the misunderstood. "Knocked Up" doesn't try. It shocks routinely (with stuff that'll make you laugh if you're alone, cringe if you're with someone) and has a "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" snarkiness. At times, its view is so dark you'll think it's cinema verite.
Apatow, though, is a smart filmmaker. He knows how to tap into an untapped market and shine the light on subjects that haven't been examined. "Knocked Up," a good film with a great premise, just doesn't get over itself. It's like being a sitcom writers' room -- everyone tosses something out to either top someone else or impress.
It succeeds. But to what end? Are we better off having seen "Knocked Up"? Or just surprised that someone has tackled the subject without stooping to "American Pie" levels?
Heigl and Rogen are fine; Mann and Rudd are even better. "Knocked Up" will make lots of money, prompt teenagers to quote its lines and give birth to another school of comedy. But it succeeds largely because so much that passes for comedy these days is weak. It's not "Vacation," "Animal House" or even "The 40-year-old Virgin."
It's just something different.
Also: 'Evening'
"Evening" boasts a who's who of actresses -- Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave, Glenn Close -- but it's a pretty slow grind until Streep shows up. She appears in the last half hour as Redgrave's lifelong friend. They reminisce about the past and, then, Streep puts the whole film in perspective.
Her brief moment is a real tearjerker and the only reason we can find to see the film.
Done in a whole lot of flashbacks, "Evening" recalls a young woman's wedding day. Her best friend is the maid of honor and both have a thing for a young physician (Patrick Wilson). During the course of the day, we meet the bride's drunken brother (Hugh Dancy), her pinched mom (Glenn Close) and a number of friends who help make this an unforgettable experience.
The film -- based on a book by Susan Minot -- hinges on the coulda, shoulda, woulda theory. Should the bride (played by Streep's real-life daughter Mamie Gummer) cancel the wedding and run off with the doctor? Could the maid of honor (played by Claire Danes) betray her friend and strike up her own relationship? Would the brother straighten out if he wasn't viewed as a burden to everyone?
While Redgrave (the older version of Danes' character) lies in bed, the story flashes back and we see various and sundry pairings. Redgrave's daughters (played by Toni Collette and Natasha Richardson, Redgrave's real-life daughter...keep up with us on this) wonder what mom is babbling on about and, eventually, we get the full picture.
Like "The Notebook," "Evening" lays the groundwork, then punches its message. It's not a knockout punch, but it does have impact. Without Streep -- who can galvanize any film -- it wouldn't. She summarizes so well you can just see Redgrave's wheels turning as she listens. It's a master class in acting when the two lie in bed, talking about old times. They don't need any special effects or amazing dialogue, just a few well-placed gestures and a lot of necessary pauses.
Interestingly, Gummer looks and sounds just like her mother. The two are a perfect match -- more so than Redgrave and Danes. The leap is so great you'll wonder, at times, which one it is Danes is playing.
Still, the "old" scenes have an authenticity that crackles. Close is pitch perfect in two key scenes; she knows the territory, she's familiar with the characters. That helps set up the class division and make the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" work.
"Evening," though, isn't fresh stuff. At least three similar films come to mind (including "The Notebook") that were better. Lajos Koltai's direction almost gives you whiplash from its back-and-forth motion.
Here, though, the key is the women -- and the man. Wilson does his usual good job as the object of affection and leaves enough out, emotionally, to make this anything but connect the dots.
While there are times when you wonder where it's all headed, the end justifies the means. The end, that is, when Streep pays her visit. Without it, this "Evening" might be less than a good night.
Also this week:
Movies: "Alone in the Dark"; "As You Like It"; "Babel" "Black Book"; "The Bronx is Burning"; "Bug"; "Count Dracula"; "Cujo"; "Demons"; "Eat My Dust"; "Full of It"; "The Intruder"; "Next"; "Severance"
TV: "King of
Queens," season nine; "My Name is Earl," season two; "Sthe Streets of San Francisco," season one; "The Unit," season two: "The Untouchables," season one; "What About Brian," seasons one and two.
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