Jason Segel essentially reprises his Knocked Up character as Mann’s flirtatious personal trainer, while Charlyne Yi, Chris O’Dowd, Lena Dunham, and Michael Ian Black pop up in small roles to do what they’re known for: get the laughs and get off the screen. Apatow then fills the supporting cast with actors and characters required to do little but goof around to boost the laugh count around the sad/funny center. Rudd and Mann have an easy chemistry that seems to replicate the genuine Apatow/Mann dynamic, while the Apatow offspring jump from scene-stealers to supporting players without showing any strain. The central family has all the messy dynamics you’d expect from a filmmaker getting openly autobiographical and thankfully that material never becomes too navel gazing and remains relatable. Moments like Mann discovering Rudd on the toilet playing iPad scrabble as his only means of escape have an authentic charm with endearing laughs. This is 40 works best in it’s first hour when Apatow essentially abandons any interest in plot in favor of letting his cast play in the world he created. Cue comedy and tears with an emphasis on comedy. So, the family is on the brink of financial collapse with two parents going through a mid-life crisis and two young girls contributing plenty of high pitched bickering as well. On Mann’s side of things, she’s freaking out about being 40 and pretending to be younger, while also having money stolen from her boutique by one of the two employees (Megan Fox and Charlyne Yi), as well as experiencing the joys of having a reluctant father with a new family of her own (John Lithgow). He’s also got somewhat of a deadbeat Dad (the one and only Albert Brooks) who has his own young family of triplets that Rudd has to support, further screwing things up. Rudd still works in the music industry, but his business is collapsing and his commitment to releasing albums by forgotten greats like Graham Parker (who appears in a hilariously self-depreciating role) guarantees that he can expect even less profits in the future. This is 40 is just as flawed of a movie, but thankfully one that’s at least entertaining while it fails to be particularly enlightening.Įven though there’s no mention of anything that happened in Knocked Up thanks to Rogen’s busy schedule and Katherine Heigl’s distancing from the project, This is 40 returns us to the lives of Pete (Rudd), Debbie (Mann), and their bickering children (Maude and Iris Apatow).
KNOCKED UP SEQUEL MOVIE
However, much like his last movie Funny People, Apatow’s ambitions and delivery haven’t quite met in a comfortable middle ground yet. He’s still a talented guy and has amassed a strong enough stock company to guarantee laughs. It’s a movie that feels openly personal and confessional at it’s best, but the writer/director still hasn’t given up enough of his populist instincts to deliver the R-rated comedy equivalent of a John Cassavetes picture. Billed as a sort-of-sequel to Knocked Up, the movie brings back the bickering family from that movie to allow Apatow to dedicate over two hours to play around with Paul Rudd and his own family. Apatow has developed a house style since The 40 Year Old Virgin made him Hollywood’s comedy golden boy and he isn’t about to shift gears now that he’s a massive success. And while Kathryn Heigl and Seth Rogen aren’t featured in the trailer, we can’t help but think that they might make a cameo appearance too.In the opening minutes of This is 40, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann enjoy a round of birthday sex that’s spoiled when Rudd reveals he’s been helped out with a certain special blue pill and concludes with Mann shouting out the line, “40 can suck my dick.” With that moment we’re instantly shot back into the world of Judd Apatow that magical land where delicate social observation comedy and crowd pleasing vulgarity come together for a sweet and filthy dance of laughter. The film also stars Melissa McCarthy, Jason Segel, and Lena Dunham. What’s interesting is not only is Leslie, Judd Apatow’s real life wife, star in the movie but their two daughters play the on-screen daughters of Leslie and Paul as well.
If you remember, Leslie and Paul played Katherine Heigl’s sister and brother-in-law in Knocked Up and will reprise their roles as a middle-aged couples who decides that their not quite ready to become “old” and instead implement a bucket list of things to “do better.”
Dubbed the unofficial sequel to Knocked Up, the film stars Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann and is set a few years after the events of the original movie. If you’re an avid movie-watcher, you will have one more flick to add to your must-see list this year when director Judd Apatow‘s latest film, This Is 40, hits movie theaters in December.
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