Knocked Up (2007)
Directed by Judd Apatow
A slacker and a career-driven woman accidentally conceive a child after a one-night stand. As they try to make the relationship work, they must navigate the challenges of parenthood and their differences in lifestyle and maturity.
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What critics compared Knocked Up to
In other words, they're about as unlikely a couple as we've seen since, say, Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl in "Knocked Up." Like Rogen, Baruchel is no troll, but he's hardly a heartthrob.
This young Canadian actor, part of the scenery in Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, ascends to stardom as Kirk, a scrawny loser working at an airport, who’s laughed at by his buddies when “perfect 10” Molly (Alice Eve) takes an interest.
In League, the average guy is Kirk (played by Jay Baruchel , of Tropic Thunder, Knocked Up, and 2010's Sorcerer's Apprentice,) -- an unassuming "6" -- who works in airport security and one day, through a series of only slightly unbelievable events, finds himself meeting and dating the aforementioned perfect girl, Molly -- a "hard 10." Naturally, Kirk can't figure out why Molly is interested, so enter Kirk's knucklehead friends and family who offer no support, ridiculous advice, and eventually beat Kirk's self-confidence to a pulp... so much so that there's nothing left -- for Kirk or for Molly.
Likewise, Jay Baruchel, a standout in Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, has the charm to navigate his role as Kirk — a 5 — past the implausibility of his high-school-graduate security guard's getting a gorgeous event planner/lawyer out of her underwear (that is, he would have if she'd been wearing any).
Recognizable for his roles in "Knocked Up" and "Tropic Thunder," Canadian-born comedian Jay Baruchel combines humble innocence with a knowing command of comic chops to inspire heartfelt laughs.
Baruchel is probably best known for his supporting turns in Judd Apatow films like Knocked Up (2006), although he made the greatest impression on me as a tragically self-deluded would-be boxer in Million Dollar Baby (2004).
And there's something reminiscent of Knocked Up, albeit with darker circumstances, in how its male lead finds himself skipping right into the deep end of a relationship courtesy of an unexpected event.
You would have to dig back to movies like “Knocked Up,” or prehistoric relics like “The Graduate” to find romcoms that sent audiences home thinking they had just seen a movie that was funny and tender and true.
Not since the one-two punch of Knocked Up and Superbad has the Apatow formula paid greater dividends.
This is a feature of Apatow’s films (Knocked Up, This is 40), which are unfailingly honest about the ups and downs of marriage.
Director Michael Showalter (“Hello, My Name is Doris”), with an assist from producer Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up”) doesn’t exploit this; instead he portrays the families with depth and dimension.
The combination of unapologetic vulgarity and semi-obscure pop culture references pretty much sums up the level of wit at work -- think the gang in the early bar scene in " Knocked Up ," only more bitter and not quite as smart -- and again, not good.
It’s difficult to watch Horrible Bosses without thinking that the filmmakers are looking for increasingly outrageous ways to walk through the door thrown open by raunch masters such as Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up) and Todd Phillips (the Hangover movies).
Add in a few F-bombs and improvised comedy bits repeating obscure pop-culture references ad nauseam and Instant Family could easily find a home in the Apatow canon alongside Knocked Up and This Is 40.
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There’s the bro-friendly raunch-com variety, launched by The 40-Year-Old Virgin in 2005; its apex, as far as romcom material goes, is probably 2007’s Knocked Up and 2008’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
She wanted to go where the makers of Juno and Knocked Up would not, and viewers' reactions to the finished product may depend, to an extent, on how they feel about the breaking of that particular cinematic taboo.
2007 sees the release of three unexpected pregnancy comedies: Juno, Knocked Up, and Waitress, all of which end with a birth.
Unlike in Judd Apatow's "Knocked Up," with a similar circumstance and where abortion is not even mentioned by name (except for the cowardly "schma-shmortion"), "Obvious Child" is honest.
Unabashedly presenting itself as a woman-centered New York response to the Los Angeles boys’ world storytelling of Knocked Up, Obvious Child stars Jenny Slate as an impecunious bookstore clerk by day and aspiring stand-up comedian by night.
It’s another in a mainstream culture in which the procedure goes largely unmentioned — unless it’s heartwarmingly rejected as an option by the heroines of, say, Knocked Up and Juno — to put it on the big screen in all its blunt, ugly reality.
Ignore one “Knocked Up” sequence, try not to notice how much of what we see is handled in cute montages, smile at the sensitive pop tunes (a cover of the Bond theme “You Only Live Twice” is key), try to recall one exchange as funny as this one between the affluent brother and his sister.
While some scenes were improvised or added during filming (Feig and producer Judd Apatow, who gave Wiig a big break in Knocked Up, pushed for the food-poisoning gag), there is a consistent authenticity that will make women in the audience nod along.
It is as twisted as anything producer Judd Apatow - director of "Knocked Up" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" - has ever done.
Wiig has made small appearances in films such as Knocked Up , alongside Ricky Gervais in Ghost Town and in Drew Barrymore's directing debut Whip It .
Though there is a fine cast around her, “Bridesmaids” is principally a vehicle for Kristen Wiig, one of the most valuable performers in the current cast of “Saturday Night Live” and a frequent supporting player in big-screen comedies (“Knocked Up,” “Ghost Town,” “Adventureland,” “Paul”).
In short, it’s a strong 0.81 out of 1 and the best thing Judd Apatow’s been involved in since Knocked Up.
“Bridesmaids” was written by Kristen Wiig of “Saturday Night Live” — but, more importantly of Judd Apatow’s “ Knocked Up .”
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This character is played by comic Charlie Day, looking as if he's come from the set of Knocked Up without bothering to shower, and he not only eavesdrops on their lovemaking, he supplies musical accompaniment from his CD collection.
If Judd Apatow films such as Knocked Up can be credited for introducing romantic-comedy elements into the gross-out comedy genre, then Going the Distance seems to be doing the opposite by delivering strong elements of gross-out humour into a romantic-comedy formula.
Ever since Judd Apatow made romantic comedy both profitable and hip with hits like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up," imitators have sought to repeat his success by importing the crude sexual candor of his characters.
The character may be derivative of Leslie Mannâ??s turn in Knocked Up , yet she and Barrymore share some of the film's funniest scenes, filled with raunchy girl talk.
But just as Tobe Hooper's 1974 masterpiece "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" opened a door for filmmakers equipped with power tools and a taste for torture but no talent, so too have Apatow's frank and sometimes hilariously rude rom-com box-office smashes -- "Knocked Up," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"…
From Steve Carrell’s nerdy man-child in The 40 Year Old Virgin , to the chorus of pink-eyed stoners in Knocked Up , to Adam Sandler’s societally inept comedian in Funny People , or even Paul Rudd’s pathetic dad in This is 40 , Apatow eagerly reflects himself in his films (even going so far as to cast his family in major roles), and utilises his films as a personal therapy of sorts.
The truth is, if this movie had been nearly identical to just about any of Apatow’s other works (such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up or Trainwreck), I probably would have been fine with that as well.
In Knocked Up— still probably Apatow’s funniest movie, pound for pound and joke for joke—Seth Rogen and his stoner buddies were surrogates for the schlubs in the audience; they obsessed over Hollywood from a distance, deconstructing Munich at the club and cataloging nude scenes (“boobs and bush!” is their verdict on the Hitchcockian opening scene of Carrie ) as overgrown fanboys.
Apatow doesn’t shy away from his usual signatures, but his thoughtful comedies run long and meander a bit (i.e., “Knocked Up” (2007), “Funny People” (2009) and “Trainwreck” (2015)).
Like earlier Apatow efforts such as Knocked Up , This is 40 , and Funny People , it’s about a stunted man-child’s journey through several life situations and the emotional growth (or lack thereof) that results.
Judd Apatow ( Knocked Up , Trainwreck ) gives the characters room to breathe and explore.