Knocked up - surprise hit of the summer?

I watched this movie yesterday and it was genuinely hilarious. So much so, I could watch it again. Immediately. I got dragged into it by the gf and thought no one would be watching and imagine my surprise when three shows (in Arlington, VA) were sold out twenty minutes before their air time!

I'll resist the urge to gab on and on about this movie and simply say, I thought there were 10+ laugh out loud moments and Kristen Wiig (of SNL fame) put on a virtuoso performance in a supporting (albeit limited) role as the production assistant. I'm curious to know what others thought of this movie...

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Originally Posted by Dukerati

I watched this movie yesterday and it was genuinely hilarious. So much so, I could watch it again. Immediately. I got dragged into it by the gf and thought no one would be watching and imagine my surprise when three shows (in Arlington, VA) were sold out twenty minutes before their air time!

I'll resist the urge to gab on and on about this movie and simply say, I thought there were 10+ laugh out loud moments and Kristen Wiig (of SNL fame) put on a virtuoso performance in a supporting (albeit limited) role as the production assistant. I'm curious to know what others thought of this movie...

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Well, I haven't seen it yet but the two reviews I read of it yesterday - in the NYT and WSJ - were pretty staggering for a comedy. In the NYT, A.O. Scott writes: "It may be a bit, um, premature to say so, but Judd Apatow’s “Knocked Up” strikes me as an instant classic, a comedy that captures the sexual confusion and moral ambivalence of our moment without straining, pandering or preaching." http://movies2.nytimes.com/2007/06/0...MWtDjofiLBGcXg.

In the WSJ, Joe Morgenstern writes, "No conclusion has ever been more foregone: "Knocked Up" will be a huge hit." -- and -- "Judd Apatow's high-density, high-intensity comedy of bad (and good) manners is a cause for celebration -- the laugh lines are smart, and they come faster than you can process them. For anyone concerned about the state of mainstream films, this is also an occasion for some wonderment -- at Mr. Apatow's gift for mating the crowd-pleasing raunchiness with a generous spirit, genuine sweetness, uncommon delicacy, zestful social criticism and a moral dimension that provides substance and meaning without ever getting in the way."

I for one can't wait to see it.

"Writer-director Judd Apatow's script succeeds in combining the honest sentimentality of a romantic comedy with gross-out, Animal House-style laughs, creating a unique hybrid that not only makes Knocked Up 2007's best comedy to date -- it also makes it the year's best film, period."

Tiny little spoilers ahead.

I saw it last night and it is (IMO) better than 40 Year Old Virgin. Sure, the plot is an old formula love story (boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back) and even the baby angle is far from fresh. But who cares about plot since it's a comedy?

Seth Rogan is tremendous and Harold Ramis, who was cast as his father shares enough similarities with him that you could actually believe they were father and son.

Apatow uses several of the Virgin cast again with Paul Redd and Leslie Mann along with Rogan and a brief cameo by Steve Carell. He also gets great mileage out of the guys who play Rogan's stoner buddies in the film - one of whom has entered a bet with the others that he won't shave or get a haircut for an entire year. The result is that he becomes the target of some truly hilarious insults not just occasionally, but every time he's on the screen.

I could easily watch this one 3 or 4 times this summer and still be amused.

If you find another low-brow, sophomoric comedy that scores 97% on Rotten Tomatoes "Cream of the Crop" review list, please let me know cause I am not sure it is possible. The praise this thing is getting from critics is outrageous!

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knocked_up/

-Jason "I need to check to see what stuff like Virgin, Stripes, and other classics did on the old Tomatometer" Evans

So, this movie cost about $30 million to make... and it earned almost $30 million at the boxoffice its opening weekend. That's pretty good! This is going to be a HUGE moneymaker for Universal Pictures because it looks to be the kind of film that is going to generate huge word of mouth and repeat viewing.

Pirates and Spidey both droped more than 60% from their first weekend to their second weekends (not good) but all indications are that Knocked Up will be a significant player at the boxoffice for quite a while. 40 Year Old Virgin only dropped about 20-30% at the Boxoffice each weekend for the first couple months it was out (compared to the usual 50% most films fall). If Knocked up follws that pattern, it could be a $150 million hit... which is huge for a film like this.

-Jason "I'm seeing Oceans 13 in the next couple days... I am hearing good things" Evans

More minor spoilers below...



I saw it yesterday, and I agree with everything that's been said -- definitely worth the price of admission. Fans of The Office will recognize at least three cast members who had funny cameos -- Steve Carell as himself, B.J. Novak (Ryan) as a gynecologist and Craig Robinson (Darryl, the guy in charge of the Dunder Mifflin warehouse) as a nightclub doorman.

Leslie Mann, who plays a prominent role in the film as the sister of Katherine Heigl's character, is director Judd Apatow's real-life wife. The two little girls who play the daughters of Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd's characters are Apatow and Mann's real-life children.

Yeah, there were so many cameos by the Office actors that I managed to convince myself halfway through the movie that Jill, the production assistant, was actually played by Jenna Fischer (Pam) from the office because she delivered her lines in a very Pam-like fashion (deadpan and droll with drawn out pauses between sentences). Of course, I ended up being wrong...

As another historical point of reference for Knocked up, it is currently at 8.6 on imdb.com, so the masses apparently agree with the critics so far!

I also saw it this past weekend and thought it was really funny. Not only that, but I was surprised when it ended and I realized that I'd been in the theater 2.5 hours (several trailers, but still). There had only been one point which I thought was a dead spot, the movie was very well paced. I thought that it was much earlier than it was.

In addition to the kids being Apatow and Mann's real kids, Ben's (Rogen's) friends are all from Apatow's TV shows. Lots of incest!