User Reviews

You may recall a major hit a few years ago entitled KNOCKED UP by Director Judd Apatow. You may also remember the "other" couple in that film, the secondary characters, the characters that the main characters "played against" for dramatic exposition. Well, Director Apatow, for reasons that are less than clear, decided to not only do a follow=up film to that hit, but to base said film on the second couple, the couple most viewers who saw the first film have likely forgotten. Wait, it gets better. The actress who played the wife in the original film (ie, in the "second" couple) is Leslie Mann, who, by coincidence, is Apatow's wife in real life. And, ergo, the star of the current film. See? And -- if you like coincidences, you will love this -- Mann herself turned 40 years old the same year that this film was made. So -- let's sum up for those of you having trouble with all this, which should be most of you -- Apatow took the secondary characters from a hit film and made a brand new film about middle aged married people, casting his very own wife. In other words, he decided to do a film about his own marriage. The reviewers have so far been less than kind about his film -- one major reviewer suggesting that all the characters are so horrible he wanted to sell the bunch of them to white slavers -- but one suspects Apatow could care less. This is the film he wanted to make and he made it. Deal with it. Comments... * if you are married, you will "get" a lot of the set pieces in the film. If you are not, you won't. In fact if you are not married, this film may possibly damage you for actual marriage, and should be avoided simply on the grounds of public policy. * Leslie Mann is one of the most photogenic actresses in Hollywood and under different circumstances probably deserved an entire film of her own, just like this one. In fact, she steals entire scenes from Meghan Fox. However, all things considered, these are NOT those circumstances... * overall a forgettable film. Unless you actually are Judd Apatow

I am 39, so I could relate to this movie. There were many fun "lines" but they way they were delivered falls flat. Instead of being funny and showing us relevant insights to turning 40 and life, all this movie demonstrates is a depressing view of angry bitter people who hate each other. Scenes were just thrown together, stitched up and made into a movie. The beginning of the movie shows you that both their birthdays are close together (weeks), but the movie implies that a lot of time has past. What was that bit about them going away? I'm sorry, but if you are so broke you have to sell your house, you would not run off for the weekend. They were all happy and stoned, then what happened to that? I guess they needed something funny to show in previews. And I was thinking wasn't it his birthday party? There were many funny parts, but in between I was thinking, I'm bored and want to leave. Too bad. This movie made me angry, depressed and wanting to run as far away from these people as possible. The only really good part was during the credits when Melissa McCarthy has a bit from their outtakes.

Pete and Debbie are both turning 40, though Debbie is in denial about it. They both run businesses which are going through severe financial difficulties, and Pete keeps lending money which he can't afford to his father. Their older daughter is hormonal. Debbie is discontented for reasons which don't appear entirely clear. For two and a quarter hours.

Judd Apatow writes and directs his wife and children in, what one can only assume, is a fictionalised film about his wife and children, with Paul Rudd standing in for him. Billed as a comedy, which it isn't, this is a soapy drama with some occasional humour.

I can't say I didn't enjoy it because, in an odd way, I did. But I can say that it left me feeling dissatisfied, like a meal which had some interesting tastes, but which I didn't actually like that much. The problem, I think, lies in the central characters, where any appeal lies with the actors playing them: as written, they are fairly unsympathetic. The central problem in their lives is the financial one and, by the end of the film, that remains completely unresolved (apart from the fact that they are, at least, talking about it). Otherwise it seemed to me that absolutely nothing had changed between them - yes, they love each other, but they were still going down the tubes financially and she was still going to be yelling at him every 15 minutes and he was still going to be hiding in their lock-free toilet, and perhaps that is at the centre of my unease - if only they would get to grips with the only real problem they have (which they resolutely don't) these people wouldn't actually have anything to complain about.

That's not all which displeased me. As is usual with Apatow's films, there is a monumental amount of bad language (we are, at least, spared it from the younger daughter). And, after a nasty row, the thing which brings them back together is lying about the unpleasant way they have treated another person. Lovely. Plus, 134 minutes is somewhat excessive for a film about pointless arguments.

What positive things can I say? The two girls - Apatow's and Leslie Mann's real-life daughters - show promise. Megan Fox swans around in underwear and a bikini and a face which has gone very odd, courtesy (one assumes) of unnecessary plastic surgery. John Lithgow's part is interesting and surprisingly sympathetic. And there is a terrific outtake during the end credits featuring Melissa McCarthy.

The much-hyped connection with Knocked Up is utterly irrelevant.

I just saw this movie last night. I was a fan of Knocked up even though my wife and I fought like cats and dogs after the movie (it was about having kids. This time around, the movie did only one thing for me, it made me thankful for my family. Leslie Mann's character was even more of a raving bitch than in Knocked up. I told my wife that I would have shoved her head in the toilet when she was trying to inspect it to see if Paul Rudd's character was really taking a crap or just avoiding her. He was probably defecating on paper so he could help make this film. Actually only Paul Rudd really brought anything to the picture unless you count Megan Fox as a hot boutique worker. The film showcases a small part of the miserable lives of Pete and Debbie as they spiral into unhappiness and misery. Into the mix are thrown several more characters who are equally miserable. I was looking forward to this movie big time and when I realized that it was going south I couldn't wait for it to be over. Unfortunately its over two hours long. So, if you are looking for a way to spend a few hours in the dark, lock your self in a closet or just close your eyes but do not go see this film--it sucked!

You have to wonder if writer-director Judd Apatow has seen the sad state of romantic comedies and determined to make it better. He succeeds where others fail. His comedies like The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Forgetting Sara Marshall are remedies to all the recent limp, unfunny romantic comedies that are responsible for killing the genre. His films are a breath of fresh air, they are raunchy and loaded with sex jokes, but they are also warm, human and very funny. He has no contempt for his characters or the audience.

His latest film, This is 40, is a hysterically funny film that literally advertises itself as "A sort-of sequel to 'Knocked-Up'. Indeed it features the adventures of a married couple Peter (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann), who occupied a small corner of that 2007 comedy and provided some of its best moments. We could detect, in that film, that there was much more to Peter and Debbie then their small subplot had time to explore. This is 40 expands their story and we get into their lives, learn what brings them together and the things that threaten to bring them apart. Plus, to make a point, your enjoyment of this film will not be hindered if you haven't seen Knocked Up.

This film is actually a lot better and funnier than Knocked Up. If you're familiar with Apatow's style then you aren't at all surprised by the opening sequence in which the couple shares a hot sexual interlude in a steamed-up shower before Debbie storms out upon learning that Peter's sexual apparatus has been fueled with Viagra. "I was just trying to go turbo for your birthday." He says. "I don't want turbo", she informs him, and thus their sexual problems are laid out for us in the cold light of day. Their problems in the bedroom – or in this case the bathroom – seem to underline a host of other problems, not least of which is the fact that Debbie is pushing 40 and doesn't want to admit it. At her birthday party she defiantly insists that she is still only 38. That later culminates in a wonderful back and forth with a nurse who is staring at her information on a clipboard while Debbie is in the middle of her pelvic exam.

Whether they like it or not, Peter and Debbie are pushing 40 and are dealing with money problems. This may be the first comedy that deals with a couple in the midst of the post-economic crisis. They are perfect models of the 21st century, they have every kind of electronic device and live in a house that they really can't afford. Peter owns a record label but doesn't tell Debbie that it is hemorrhaging money. His latest project involves an aging rock star who is past 60 who still has the chops, but who wants to buy him? Meanwhile, Debbie's dress shop is losing money because a large amount of cash has gone missing by either the passive Asian girl joy or raucous sexpot Desi (Megan Fox) who amazingly has suddenly acquired a high-priced apartment and a new car – the answer to that mystery isn't what we expect.

Aggravating the situation are the presence of two budding daughters, Sadie, who is obsessed with "Lost" and Charlotte whose personality hasn't quite slipped into cynicism but we sense her moving in that direction. Debbie makes the suggestion that some life changes are in order, starting with a limitation on electronic devices. Sadie's outrage is comparable to a chimpanzee bereft of its tire swing.

Apatow is smart enough to keep the plot light. He doesn't overload us with plot developments but allows the everyday problems of the couple to provide the drama and the comedy. Nothing here feels like it was set up to be a gag. Even a hysterically funny moment in which Debbie catches Peter trying to examine something that might be a hemorrhoid with the use of a cell phone and a bathroom mirror somehow feels organic, not set-up.

Apatow is also wise not to turn the characters into caricatures. There are at least a dozen supporting players here and each – per Apatow's usual – is given an extra dimension. There's a wonderful, nomination-worthy, performance by Albert Brooks – a comic treasure - as Peter father, a man in his 60s who has recently fathered three triplet boys and observes that "The doctor said I'd never get my wife pregnant. I was very unlucky . . . and now I have three beautiful children." If there is a weakness in the film, it may be that it runs on too long. The screenplay nears comic perfection but there is no reason that this movie has to run on for over two hours. It doesn't have that much to say. That limitation aside, this is an often hysterically funny movie that allows us to laugh at the characters and doesn't give in to easy pratfalls. The characters have an intelligence level that approximates the intelligence of the people in the audience, with moments that are perfectly observed. It was refreshing, for example, to find that Debbie's father, smart as he is, was as baffled by the final episode of "Lost" as the rest of us.