The film Text copyright (c) Filmverdict 2006-present. Any film titles and artwork used are copyright of their respective owners.
Most major films these days are categorised as blockbusters based on how much they cost rather than how much they earn. Based on these tenets, Knocked Up is far from being one, with an estimated budget of $30 million. However, the amount of money it has made is certainly of blockbuster proportions, beating such big hitters as Die Hard 4.0, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Ocean's Thirteen. A lot of its success must be down to its enthusiastic critical consensus, with poster quotes including such claims as "the perfect comedy" - cribbed from respectable sources, too, and not just Johnny Hack working for Give Me Free Publicity magazine. Both critical and commercial acceptance bode well for any film and is quite a rare combination in cinema's current climate. It is possible to have too much hype, though, and Knocked Up is a victim of it. No film could feasibly live up to being called perfect, and Knocked Up doesn't. On its own terms, it's a perfectly decent little comedy but it doesn't seem the herald of a new golden age.
The film's greatest attributes are its likeable cast and believable dialogue. Seth Rogen, as has been pointed out many a time including by the actor himself, does not possess classic leading man looks but he's excellent as the loveable loser who somehow beds a hot blonde aspiring TV presenter. The way he and his stoner buddies talk reeks of authenticity. Presumably these characters are not a million miles from the actors portraying them; either that or writer-director Judd Apatow has an uncanny, Tarantino-like knack for dialogue. (In truth, it's likely a bit of both, together with a lot of ad-libbing.) The way Rogen reacts to Heigl's pregnancy revelation is simultaneously hilarious and convincing. The pop culture, particularly film, references come thick and fast too - in fact, they're perhaps a little overused, but a lot of the conversations are riotously funny. Jonah Hill, young star of the upcoming Apatow-produced Superbad (another big hit in America), is arguably the standout.
It's in Catherine Heigl's side of the story where the film deals with more heartfelt emotion, and more time is devoted to this strand as the film progresses. Heigl is exactly right for the role, and pulls it off with ease (a much more appropriate choice than Anne Hathaway, who apparently turned down the part). Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd, Heigl's on-screen sister and brother-in-law, are having marriage troubles. This side of the story is far more serious, and while that is not inherently bad - indeed, it gives the film more depth than many comedies - it does drag out the running time a bit too much, with the narrative treading water for parts of the second half.
This becomes a particular problem because fundamentally it's a predictable, and unoriginal, story. The film is clearly building towards the day of the birth (there's even an on-screen caption occasionally stating how many weeks of the pregnancy have elapsed) so the rather slow pace starts to try the patience. Rogen, Heigl and company certainly do enough to keep you engaged with their likeable, natural performances and believable chemistry, but the two-hour-plus investment isn't as fulfilling and rewarding as it had the potential to be.
The summary
A healthy sprinkling of laughs, heartfelt emotion and well-drawn characters are commendable, but in parts Knocked Up stutters. Good, not great.
Agree? Disagree? Say so in the Guestbook!