First off--this is well worth seeing, it is consistently funny--and at times keel-over funny. However if you're looking for a meaningful plot that gets neatly wrapped up, that's not gonna happen. Like porn, the plot was just there as an excuse for the many 'money shots'--the consistently funny gags about typical 40ish couple's lives.
Rudd's character is suffering a struggling business (and also maybe a little of 'struggling business'--if you know what I mean). Mann's character has a business also, that is suffering. Their kids are dealing with various modern-kid issues--Facebook bullies, trying to devour entire seasons of "Lost" in a matter of days, etc. The parents fight, the kids fight, Rudd & Mann each have issues with their own parents--one with abandonment issues, the other with what might be the polar opposite of abandonment.
And the gags and issues that arise, I can tell you, are all based in reality--it's a good composite of the issues that this demographic actually faces--only depicted with the cinematic equivalent of the "Photoshop saturation slider" cranked to 11.
A special mention for Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow's kids--they actually can act, and they were excellent in this film. They belonged in the film--not 'becuase their daddy is the producer'--but because they added big-time in both the many comedy scenes they were in, but also in the movie's scattered drama moments. Very adorable kids, who blended into this movie effortlessly and definitely added to its charm.
So that's the plot, and in the end, it leaves you with hope that things will get better, but never really pounds that point down and gift-wraps a sappy, happy ending, but it doesn't need to--the plot is just a vehicle to tow all of the gags with.
And the gags, mini-skits, etc, are very funny, and very consistent--me, my wife, and most of the theater were laughing through the bulk of the film (Stay for the ending credits--the blooper reel with Melissa McCarthy may be one of the funniest of the entire movie).
So that's it--I give it a 8--well worth seeing in the theater, and when it comes out on DVD, I'll definitely rent it and see it again.
Rudd's character is suffering a struggling business (and also maybe a little of 'struggling business'--if you know what I mean). Mann's character has a business also, that is suffering. Their kids are dealing with various modern-kid issues--Facebook bullies, trying to devour entire seasons of "Lost" in a matter of days, etc. The parents fight, the kids fight, Rudd & Mann each have issues with their own parents--one with abandonment issues, the other with what might be the polar opposite of abandonment.
And the gags and issues that arise, I can tell you, are all based in reality--it's a good composite of the issues that this demographic actually faces--only depicted with the cinematic equivalent of the "Photoshop saturation slider" cranked to 11.
A special mention for Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow's kids--they actually can act, and they were excellent in this film. They belonged in the film--not 'becuase their daddy is the producer'--but because they added big-time in both the many comedy scenes they were in, but also in the movie's scattered drama moments. Very adorable kids, who blended into this movie effortlessly and definitely added to its charm.
So that's the plot, and in the end, it leaves you with hope that things will get better, but never really pounds that point down and gift-wraps a sappy, happy ending, but it doesn't need to--the plot is just a vehicle to tow all of the gags with.
And the gags, mini-skits, etc, are very funny, and very consistent--me, my wife, and most of the theater were laughing through the bulk of the film (Stay for the ending credits--the blooper reel with Melissa McCarthy may be one of the funniest of the entire movie).
So that's it--I give it a 8--well worth seeing in the theater, and when it comes out on DVD, I'll definitely rent it and see it again.