Being 40 sucks....

Today, I look at the new film by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, Superbad, Funny People) starring Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd. A "sort-of sequel to Knocked Up" (as the ads say), this film has been getting mixed reviews, praising the acting and premise, but criticizing the 2 hour runtime and sometimes aimless storyline. Here are my thoughts:

This Is 40:
Pete and Debbie (from Knocked Up) are the average, upper middle-class 40-year-olds: they are successful, have two kids, try their best at parenting and staying fit, get into arguments, and have average problems, like bank debt, issues with their own parents, and dealing with the fact that they're not getting any younger. The film focuses on their problems over the course of a couple weeks, as everything in their life seems to go to shit, but their find new happiness out of it. The cast are very convincing in their depictions of people. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann really have a good chemistry as Pete and Debbie, which makes their relationship feel all the more real. The cast also includes the great John Lithgow (as Debbie's estranged father), Albert Brooks (as Pete's father who constantly borrows money to support his three identical triplets), Megan Fox (as eye candy, no really, that's basically her role), Jason Segel (as Debbie's weight instructor), Melissa McCarthy (as the mom-from-hell), Chris O'Dowd (as Pete's friend and employee), Iris and Maude Apatow (the director's kids who are convincing as bickering sisters, who are Pete and Deb's kids), and Graham Parker and Billie Joe Armstrong of "Greenday" as themselves. There are some very funny conversatiosn in the film, but some uncomfortable scenes too, like seeing Paul Rudd get a prostate exam and get his testicles checked, or see Leslie Mann get a colonoscopy and go to the gynecologist. When the couple argues in the film, it's also very realistic and uncomfortable to watch. You know when you friends or your parents get into arguments you just want to put your head down, shut up, and wait for it to be over? Well, imagine you and 100 other people in a movie theater doing that simultaneously, except the argument is on the big screen. You feel like you're actually there when the argument happens. Other than that, the movie is pretty funny, it's an effective dramady. But it is a bit overlong, and some of the jokes aren't as funny as you'd hope them to be. I hope Judd Apatow goes back to films like Superbad, because it seems like his films are progressing through life. Teens (Superbad), young people (Knocked Up), and now middle-aged people. What's next, a comedy about old age? This is 40 can be a bit slow at times, but it's funny, smart, heartwarming, and effective, although it can be a bit uncomfortable to watch at times. 3/5 stars.



(Images, left-to-right: the posters for the film, and the Vanity Fair comedy issue focusing on the stars of the film. Photos: Wikipedia, Google Images.)