Knocked Up

What a letdown! Based on his sweet-centered "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," I had much higher expectations from Judd Apatow! This time out, I have been reading reviews that praise the "heart" in this latest immature man/boy outing. Deliberately rude and crude like "Virgin," this time, unlike "Virgin," it somehow failed to redeem itself at the end...to me...

With an actress as sweet looking as Katherine Heigl ("The Ringer" and "Grey's Anatomy" on TV), I really did expect more heart! As you probably already know (Hey! I've been out of town, okay?), this story is about an unemployed, pot smoking, beer swilling schlemiel played by Seth Rogen ("Superbad") who gets an up-and-coming TV talent (Heigl) pregnant during a drunken one-night stand. She was celebrating a promotion to an "on-camera" job and thought he was using a condom. Her character works as a producer for Ryan Seacrest, who, playing himself, has a ball throwing a hissy fit in the television studio.

The story really isn't worth belaboring. Suffice it to say, the only rationale I could see for these two unlikely people to be attracted to each other AT ALL, was that they seemed to have a similar sense of humor. At least, he could make her laugh...and I would be the first to admit... that IS an important rationale!

Handsome and talented Paul Rudd ("Clueless") will be steadily employed for the foreseeable future because he always turns in a believable performance. Mrs. Apatow (Leslie Mann) very capably plays Rudd's wife, while Apatow's daughters play his two little girls. (Does Actors' Equity know about this?)

Sorry the film let me down. Maybe you'll like it better.... Don't buy a ticket. Good for a rental on a quiet night. Have a beer.