REVIEW
Knocked Up – Exceeds Expectations . . . Sort of.

With Knocked Up, Writer/Director Judd Apatow (The 40 Year-Old Virgin) again selected a raunchy and crudely entitled film . . . and again, he exceeds expectations. For as opposed to the hilarious but ultimately mindless comedies of Anchorman, Talladega Nights and the like (Sorry Will Ferrell), Apatow brings to Knocked Up what he brought to its Virgin predecessor – humor filled with surprising heart, a story submerged within a plausible though awkward reality and dialogue so sharp it not only keeps an audience in stitches but subtly tickles their intellect as well.

Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) is a twenty-something that has yet to find the ambition necessary to make something of his life. “Working” with his buddies on a website that informs viewers of how long they have to wait for nudity in numerous and varied films, Ben has no “real” job and considers a couple hundred bucks in the bank to be more than satisfactory. Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is Ben’s polar opposite. Beautiful, talented and driven, Alison has recently been promoted to an on-air host for E! Entertainment Television.

Celebrating her career success with her older and highly neurotic sister Debbie (Leslie Mann), Alison crosses paths with Ben at a local bar and the rest, as they say, is history. Discovering come morning that they have little to nothing in common, each returns to their independent and distinct lives, ready and willing to simply move on.

But in eight weeks time, moving on isn’t quite so easy. Revealing her pregnancy, Alison not only smashes Ben’s mistaken belief in his own powers of attraction but she also destroys his carefree, pot-smoking, responsibility-flaunting world. It would seem that one night of fun has landed Alison and Ben in the midst of a huge dilemma.

As the film continues to follow the duo’s blundering attempts to forge a relationship, prepare for the forthcoming baby and ultimately do the “right thing”, the laughs keep coming in a script chock full of impeccably crafted dialogue. Despite the humor, however, Knocked Up looses its footing in one key area – Did anyone stop to consider why the gorgeous, successful and talented Alison chooses to stay at the bar and ultimately bring Ben home with her? As an audience we expect this to happen – given the title, we know this is a going to happen - but we still have no idea why it is happening.

Perhaps she’s lonely? After all, while we meet and hang out with Ben’s foray of pot-smoking friends, Alison’s BFF’s are surprisingly absent. However, if this is the direction our thoughts are supposed to take, the necessary hints and prodding are pretty much nonexistent within the script – and Apatow is better than that.  

Perhaps she really likes him? Unfortunately, if this was meant to be the case, then Heigl doesn’t hold up her end of the bargain. The distance she continuous lays down between Alison and Ben keeps him firmly in the “I was in the Mood”/“Intoxicated”/“He happened to be around” category.

It would seem that laughter can cover up plenty but a gaping hole in plot will sadly stand out regardless of whether the audience can breathe or not.

As far as performances go, Rogen is dully apathetic and slacker-esqe. His ability to poke fun at himself and still remain humbly self-confident is endearing as it is remarkable. Heigl is at times sweet and likeable, at other times completely and hormonally unfathomable. Within the confines of Alison’s limited characterization and depth, she holds her own well enough.

Landing the much more entertaining roles of the married Debbie and Pete, Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd demonstrate more hearty, layered and in-depth performances. Mann manages to find a beautifully balance between Debbie’s self-absorbed, anal, hyper-active tendencies and a genuine and heartfelt, though often times hidden, love for her husband. And Rudd turns Pete’s soliloquy over chairs while stoned out of his mind in a Vegas hotel room into one of the highlights of the film.

However, if Knocked Up boiled down to one scene, that scene would belong to Kristin Wiig whose beautifully passive aggressive managing techniques within the picture perfect world of E! Entertainment are so good they produce hearty guffaws, sniggers and chortles in commercials alone.