Is Funny Enough? The Case Against Knocked Up

Ever since I saw Knocked Up I have been getting into arguments. These arguments are of my own making. Some unsuspecting friend will ask, “Did you like it?” and I should simply say “Yeah it was very funny.” But, because I am annoyingly opinionated, I say, “It was funny but it is a bad movie.” Then I have to defend myself. Below I have written down the defense for my belief that Knocked Up, while funny, is not a good movie.

The easy part is establishing that this movie is funny. Director Judd Apatow has consistently brought the world laughter ever since he worked on the Ben Stiller Show (he occasionally portrayed the Fox Television Network’s mascot who was, of course, a slob dressed as a fox). There are dozens of memorable lines and sequences in Knocked Up that illicit hard, hard laughter. The humor is fresh and off beat; it is more frank and disarming than anything seen in a recent romantic comedy.

I admit to all of the aforementioned things being true each time I get in an argument about this film. Then, like a jerk, I have to say “But…” and proceed to mention the following:

It is not necessary for every single character in this movie to have a “funny moment”. There is a scene in 40 Year-Old Virgin (Apatow’s last film) where Jane Lynch, playing store manager Paula, informs Andy, Steve Carell's titular virgin, that she is “very discreet, but I’ll haunt your dreams.” This is a moment of hilarity that will go down in the record books. It seems that every supporting player in Knocked Up wants a similar moment all their own. These results of this are mixed(Kristen Wiig = quite funny, Ryan Seacrest = quite uncomfortable) but more importantly they slow the movie down. In a genre where timing is everything you can’t have a 129 minute movie where it feels like everything and anything that the filmmakers found amusing was included. Someone needs to take one for the team and be the straight man. Most of the Marx brothers' movies are about 80 minutes long and they understood the importance of having a Zeppo.

In addition, Knocked Up does not commit to its characters. In 40 Year-Old Virgin Andy is a fully realized person. One aspect of him is that he is a virgin and it is that aspect that drives the plot of the movie. However, at no time is the character of Andy altered to amplify the humor or the pathos of the movie. The character of Ben (played by Seth Rogan) in Knocked Up is a sarcastic stoner when that is funny, a lovable schlub when sympathy is required, a total jerk to create conflict, and finally, a matured companion to produce closure. This makes it difficult to care for Ben because the viewer never knows exactly who he is.

Normally I would not tear apart a comedy in such a manner. I am, after all, the guy who went to see Little Man with an open mind. It is just that Judd Apatow fancies himself someone capable of taking comedy to a higher level, and he often does. His latest is nothing more than a funny movie.