"Knocked Up" (2006) - Movie Review

Two drunken people and one night, results in a situation of heavy responsibility and conditional commitment. These kind of romantic comedies definitely are going to end with a happy note unless they advertise it as differently. Even after that “Knocked Up” manages to stand out of the crowd to give an engaging comical movie. The film walks the path of any movie of its genre with a style of its own. For example, they do not explain in detail on how both of them do not want a baby over a series of conversation or events.

The titles roll up with band of people playing a weird boxing or a tug of war over a pool in a broad day light. This is the life of Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) who spends his day playing these kinds of weird games and hunting unusual films with popular nudity. He takes those and proposes an idea to put it over internet so that people can find out those details instantly and effectively. On the other hand is the beautiful career oriented woman Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) living with her sister and her family. She is getting the promotion to be on camera in the Entertainment Network Television. These two are universally opposite and what I liked it is that Director Judd Apatow did not spend time on explaining that they are “universally opposite” in detail. They meet in a bar and get in to bed with lot of drinks. Six weeks later both are in a situation they did not think when they got on each other in bed. Alison is pregnant with Ben’s baby. They keep the baby as expected and they gel together as expected. They fight later as expected and finally get back at the moment of birth. As Expected. Do not scold for giving out the entire plot but trust me you knew this too. Jumping from one of those three things to the other and the characters they use to put that is funny to the core and sensible as well.

Ben is the character in everyone. The problem is the extreme character of everyone. It is not that he is not aware of responsibility but he chooses not to be. In fact that is the reason he never hooks up with any one afraid of getting into the responsible man. He smokes weed and gets high almost on daily… no on an hourly basis. His sanity is maintained by some nice guy in him. While he understands the situation he is in, he does not take things seriously. More than the baby it is the strangeness of getting into a relationship which makes him act goofy. He is patient and he respects the freaky nature of the situation. At the same time, he is clinging on to the routine. He keeps up with his buddies while visiting tons of gynecologists since Alison is picky. On a whole he is the nicest guy with no responsibility and he discovers welcoming a baby needs one.

Alison is another individual with her big sister trying to type cast her attitude. She is not judgmental and acts on her instincts. While she is bedazzled by the way Ben lives, she is ready to see the nice person in him. She understands too but in a frenzied situation and elevated hormones, she snaps too. The movie is funny and at the same time carrying the burden of relationship makes it one of kind in a beat up genre of romantic story telling. Seth Rogen proves that he can be the buddy who can terrifically and hyper supportive in a weird manner in “The 40 year old virgin” and now comes us the guy everyone dreams to be but dare not to. Ben is the character of reason to people taking vacation. They want to stand out of their office and take a relaxed deep breath. While Ben takes it 24/7 along with the smoke of weed, this film shows how some one of his nature is shaken up to see the reality.

More than the main characters, it is the supporting roles which make this film hysterical. The buddies of Ben (Jason Segel, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Martin Starr) and Alison’s controlling and nagging sister, Debbie (Leslie Mann) with her husband Pete (Paul Rudd). Another couple with problems is Debbie and Pete. There is an encounter of Debbie confronting Pete and she says how mean Pete is. As men, we do not realize it and when she explains it, we feel it is true. Unspoken anger with worst body language is horrific than a continuous sound of nagging. These are the points of movie where the screenplay conveniently shifts up to those serious points. And with the same ease they rotate the wheel of comedy in an intelligent manner.

There is a catch though that we need to witness some expected retaliation from Ben against Debbie. Some of the supposedly reviving change in certain characters could have been avoided. But at the point of time, the movie needs to end. It ends in a common usual note since there is no other way to end it. Well, that cannot be the excuse some one can give when they just finished telling a routinely romantic comedy in a unique way. Forgetting that factor, “Knocked Up” is a definite comic entertainer.