Knocked Up 06/10/07

I like to think that I can tolerate obscenity in a movie to a certain degree, be it language or sex or violence, what have you. If it helps or if it doesn't neccessarily hurt the movie. Let's say I'm Joe Pesci and I'm a gangster in Goodfellas. Since I'm supposed to be more real than likable, I'm allowed to curse all I want. It fits. When I'm Seth Rogan or any of the other charachters in the movie "Knocked Up" and I'm supposed to be in a romantic comedy where one would perhaps want the guy and girl to stay together, it hurts the movie somewhat. I honestly didn't want the career woman to marry the slacker. She's out of his league and they fight all the time. Not that a couple can't fight in a movie. It's just to use that amount of angry f-bombs, makes me feel for the characthers less. I mean how am I supposed to sympathize with the wife when she's cursing out a bouncer at a club for no apparent reason. What an asshole. I don't care if she's got problems.

There's a dual nature in director Judd Apatow's films, in that he employs the vulgar language and situations and still makes a somewhat heartfelt, emotionally correct movie. This worked exceptionally in the 40-Year Old Virgin and that was a fantastic film. It only barely works in this one, and by that I mean the overall humor and the specific performance of Paul Rudd (becoming a favorite of mine) outweigh by just a little bit the collossal obscenity and bad taste. What's the main difference: Well in the 40-Year Old Virgin we had Steve Carell as the main character. He, despite being a virgin, was a nice, clean, and decent man. He rarely sweared and when he did, it seemed like he regretted it. There was a lot of vulgar jokes but at the center we had a nice guy to sympathize with. We wanted him to get the girl. In this movie we have Seth Rogan, a vulgar man-child with no job, and few prospects. We don't want him to get the girl, in fact we feel sorry for the girl for mainly the entire film. She's stuck with this loser's child. It's hard to sympathize with the guy and when the vulgarness rears it's ugly head we have nowhere to retreat except to the semi-vulgar presence of Paul Rudd, who I feel, should definitely be the main character in Judd Apatow's next movie.