Dan's Papers - June 15, 2007 - Guy de Fraumeni's Hollywood in The Hamptons

Okay, here's the story: Shlumpy boy-man manages to date a smart, attractive young woman. The one-night stand leaves her impregnated. How will it go?

Well, typically, it follows the usual slippery path. As slovenly a title as Knocked Up for a movie about an accidental pregnancy should clearly tell you to expect the sort of humor that has a screenplay inspired by the smutty scribbling on the walls of Boy's Room toilets. In Knocked Up, the surprise pregnancy gives the graphic jokes a theme, adding a more intimate, off-color dimension. It's as if the kids got their hands on a gynecologist's textbook and it gave them a flush of gleefully fresh matter to sully. I usually do not review these faulty flicks however, Knocked Up has so much puritanical heart, it miraculously manages to whitewash over the dirty graffiti and produce a gleaming, almost pure love story of gentle redemption.

So, here's your chubby loser, the schlub Ben, a dedicated slacker and as played by Seth Rogen, he's an endearing neurotic. The sexy blond is an E! Entertainment cable TV on-air reporter, Alison. Katherine Heigl fills out the body and intelligence of Alison nicely, making it more difficult to understand why, after celebrating her network promotion in a nightclub, she would choose Ben to take to bed - too many beers or not. He is a nice, kinda cuddly Teddy Bear, but his intellectual pursuits, enjoyed with goofy roommates, include collecting, on a website, nude movie scenes of well known actresses and, playing other inventive games, usually clouded over by pot smoke. Nevertheless, after that drunken night of unprotected abandon, this unlikely pairing are thrown together and will reluctantly stick together and make a working relationship for the sake of their child to be.

The successful balancing of this comedy is due to the finesse of its writer and director, Judd Apatow, recently coming off his hit, The 40 Year Old Virgin, a quite similar film in that it follows the same belief: only the truth is funny. The audience relates to real life experiences of their own that can be hilarious so the movie doesn't have to exaggerate preposterous scenarios. Conversely, Mr. Apatow believes that much of humor, being the result of missteps, can also be extremely touching. Alison's sister, Debbie, wonderfully wrought by Leslie Mann (Mr. Apatow's wife) is an example of the happy-sad ways of life. Alison had been living with her husband Pete, (40 Year Old Virgin veteran) Paul Rudd. Alison's and Ben's mating took place there. The married folks, Debbie and Pete have a big house, two lovely daughters and, don't forget the pool. What's missing? Harmony, happiness and ease, Debbie is an irate, fussy mix of discontent reprimands and Pete is unsatisfied and needing of "me-time." Debbie's disapproval of Alison is also tinged with green. Their rocky domesticity does not enhance Alison and Ben's chances.

Ben is reluctantly committed. He's got his bong and his geeky gang but he really becomes enthralled with the idea of a real family. He's had no role model for adulthood. Maturity has never reached his father, surprisingly well played by director, Harold Ramis. When Ben asks his father for marital advice, he begs off, "I've been divorced three times." Then there's Alison's indecision and problems. Should she stay with Ben? At the TV studios her bosses have told her, "We don't want you to lose weight. We just want you to be healthy, by eating less," Alison grows anyway. Knocked Up also cannot but grow as expected. Raucous arguments ensue. The one-liners fly by. There are the awkward visits to the gynecologist and pregnancy's very awkward moments such as when a very swollen Alison, crazed by an over-abundance of hormones, has trouble finding the right sex position with terrified Ben. Then, finally the delivery room climax that unfortunately runs stretched - way too long, especially for a 2 hour 10 minute length picture. Although much of that time is given to gross out humor, it does have socially redeeming qualities.

Knocked Up's basic premise is so sincerely serious it happily and, I mean happily, transcends its transgressions. I'm reminded that the crudest porn magazines a while back were publishable if they included compensating do-good substance. They listed Venereal Disease Medical Center addresses. Hey, there's another positive side to Knocked Up. Because it is the kind of comedy aimed at those rascally kids, maybe the little devils will learn something about where babies come from.

Guy-Jean de Fraumeni is the producer/writer/director of award-winning European and American feature films. He has been a judge at Major Film and TV award competitions, including the Oscars, the Emmy's and various film festivals. Sarah Halsey assists him.