We loved Judd Apatow’s take on middle aged virginity, and he’s only done more to spice up his take on sex, love, and absurdity with Knocked Up, his feature flick about a one night stand that results in a lifelong deal. Grey’s Anatomy’s Katherine Heigl stars as beautiful, successful Alison Scott, the twenty-something E! news journalist who parties a little too hard celebrating a promotion and hooks up with the sloppy (yet lovable) slacker Ben Stone (Seth Rogen). When Alison and her (occasionally) happily married sister Debbie (Leslie Mann) discover she is pregnant two months later, Alison reluctantly tries to get to know the fun loving stoner who’ll be the father of her accidental child. And while Ben is on board for the dating game (mostly because Heigl’s character is so stunningly gorgeous) they both soon find out they may be too opposite to attract. The tension between Alison and Ben is paralleled with Debbie’s nit picking, child rearing marriage to Pete (Paul Rudd) in a delightful, hilarious ensemble that tackles the big questions about imperfect love, stressful parenting, and trial and error relationships.
Heigl really proves her capacity to carry herself on the big screen here; she perfectly handles the role of an ambitious, beautiful young woman able to humble herself to a huge bump in her road to success. Her chemistry with Seth Rogen is top-notch, and the two embody awkward, developing love seamlessly. Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd do more than keep up, and Apatow’s two daughters, Iris and Maude, are amazing as the couple’s children.
I wasn’t impressed with the graphic birth images. This is mostly because they were unnecessary, tremendously embarrassing (at least to this female), and disarmingly unexpected. And, in my Discovery-Health-Channel-viewing opinion, they were just not that authentic (really now, nine-month pregnant women are just not the well waxed.) And since I’m already there, I may as well wrap up my feminist tirade with commentary regarding the attention Knocked Up called to natural vs. drug supplemented birth. Heigl’s character seems to be offered up as the movie prototype for the birthing female: fiercely intent on natural delivery until the real pain hits and she simply begs for an epidural. I scarcely think this is either fair or original.
I was also substantially irritated by Ken Jeong’s performance as Dr. Kuni, the condescending gynecologist Alison is forced to deal with during her delivery because her doctor was off at a Bar Mitzvah. Initially passed over by Allison in her search for the perfect obstetrician because he’s obnoxious and distrustful, Dr. Kuni becomes unrealistically ridiculous toward the end of the film when he is called in to the birth, threatening to just “go home” and challenging Ben to be the doctor instead. Dr. Kuni’s all-too-sudden change of heart after Ben calls him out in the hallway just didn’t satisfy me in the character development department. In fact, I’d say the twenty or so odd minutes devoted to this portion of the film were all labor and no delivery.
I suppose the medical community was less than satisfied with Knocked Up’s doctor cracks, but I think women should be just as disappointed. I was shocked that Alison went through with the examination by the family gynecologist who, upon looking between her legs exclaimed that she ‘looked just like her sister.’ Maybe, I’m nitpicking, but maybe Knocked Up really does embody the insensitivity toward women that its title suggests.
Oh, I’m a cynic! This is a comedy and I should lighten up in my criticism. I will admit whole heartedly that Judd Apatow’s comedic genius really held up to and built on its name in Knocked up; the jokes were perfectly written and beautifully timed and (between my gasps of indignation) I couldn’t stop laughing.
Here’s the bottom line: as unbelievable as I would have originally thought it to be, by the end of the movie, I really believed that a beautiful career woman like Alison could forge a relationship with an under-ambitious, fun loving, slob of a guy like Ben. And scarily, the film is just as intoxicating as the liquor that fouls up the mindset of the protagonists and creates the entire plot. Almost makes you want to get (or get someone) knocked up.
Liz Licorish
Comments directed to: LizFlix@gmail.com
