
Universal Studios - Universal Studios
Release date: 2007-09-25
DVD
Actors: Seth Rogan, Katherine Heigl, Joanna Kerns, Loudon Wainwright III, Harold Ramis
Adult Humor, Adult Situations, Arrested Adolescence, Bittersweet, Color, Comedies, Comedy, Comedy Video, Drama, Drug Content, Easygoing, English, Expecting a Baby, Feature, Feature Film-comedy, Goofy, Irreverent, Ladder to the Top, Madcap, Movie




How is it possible that so many people are clueless about what a Judd Apatow movie entails? Scores of these reviews condemn this movie for being too crass, offensive, etc., as if they were expecting a Billy Wilder romp instead of a movie made in another century. This is the guy who has given us a wealth of movies which all tap extensively if not exclusively into the lowbrow, locker room, sophomoric comedic vein that is ala mode. Why would you think this offering would be any different?
That being said, I found it funny. Yes, the plot line is hard to swallow. The hot tv personality finding love with the unemployed, corpulent, stoner loser simply because they had a drunken night of sex is straight Hollywood fantasy. Still, it isn't unrealistic that beautiful women go for less-than-handsome guys; just ask Ric Ocasek or Billy Joel. What I found most appealing is the deadly accuracy of the marriage between Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann's characters, the latter playing main character Alison's (Katherine Heigl) sister. The palpable angst that permeates their relationship is very real and very honest, as anyone who has had a failed marriage can attest, especially one built largely upon the arrival of children. Within the jokes about genitalia et al are some astute points about relationships, kids, acceptance, and maturity.
As for the jokes, I am on the fifty side of my mid-forties and I still laugh out loud at many of them, as crude as they may be. I work with a largely twenty-something crowd and I have come to realize that there is a generational change in what is funny, what is socially acceptable, what offends, and what passes for a new morality, if you'll pardon the usage of such a dangerous word. All I can recommend to those who don't find this kind of humor their style; don't watch it! We can argue the sociological, cultural, or moral implications of such a change in morays all day and night, but in the end, you either find it funny or you don't. But please spare the rest of us your whining. At this stage in the game, your "Oh! My virgin ears! I'm so offended" cries are contrived and disingenuous attempts to stab at the heart of a cultural change that you no longer are a part of. Every generation has its day and yours is past. Come to grips with it, go watch I Love Lucy, and stay out of the current release section.