Just about every year, it seems that there is one movie that I
anticipate above all others. While 2011 had many promising candidates –
including my beloved Winnie the Pooh and Harry Potter facing off against
each other in the middle of summer – there was one film that had me
aquiver with excitement from the time I first heard rumors of its
release. Of course, it helped that it had the cleverest, most persistent
ad campaign of any movie I can recall, expertly spoofing multiple
genres while demonstrating its ability to appeal to a broad audience.
I’m speaking, naturally, of The Muppets, the James Bobin-directed
movie that launches Kermit the Frog and all his felt friends onto the
big screen for the first time in more than a decade. While television
specials and viral videos have helped them maintain a presence in recent
years, The Muppets feels like a joyous return to the glory days of those madcap mischief-makers whose merriment brought mirth to millions.
It takes a special kind of person to get the Muppets in such a visceral
way as to be able to revive them for a cynical generation. When I heard
that Jason Segel was not just starring but actually co-writing the
screenplay, I thought, “You know, this could be a very good thing.”
While some of his recent projects have had a decidedly off-color streak,
I will always recall Segel first as sweetly goofy aspiring drummer Nick
Andopolis on the sadly short-lived high school dramedy Freaks and Geeks,
and the endearing idealism he brought to that character seems a perfect
fit for Jim Henson’s relentlessly positive creations. Together with
Nicholas Stoller, he crafted a screenplay as innocent as it is exuberant
– a movie that dares to demonstrate that there is room in this world
for hope, togetherness and splashy musical numbers… and maybe an
ill-timed explosion or two.
Segel plays Gary, a lovable
grown-up kid who still shares a house with his little brother, his best
friend. The brotherly affection between Gary and Walter, earnestly
voiced by Peter Linz, is so genuine that it never feels weird that one
is a man and one is a Muppet. In fact, it hearkens back to the peculiar
brotherhood between Kermit and Fozzie Bear in The Great Muppet Caper.
These are characters who have always transcended the traditional
boundaries of family. Still, living in a tiny town surrounded by humans,
Walter feels out of place, even with the world’s most supportive big
brother looking out for him. His discovery of the Muppets as a child
quickly bloomed into an obsession, a dream of a different destiny. Now,
years later, Walter is childlike as ever and about to achieve a lifelong
dream. But what kind of growing up will be required for him to take
that all-important step?
Walter is truly the heart of the
movie, a representation of those devoted fans for whom the luster of the
Muppets has never dimmed. Like Kermit in The Muppet Movie, he is a dreamer in search of a connection, but because The Muppet Show
pointed the way for him, he knows just where to find it. It’s a story
of self-discovery, of letting go and reconnecting, and all those who
ever laughed until they cried over Gonzo’s cannon-shot chickens and
Fozzie’s groan-worthy jokes will understand the euphoria emblazoned on
Walter’s flexible face as his heroes gradually gather for a raucous
reunion.
These are the viewers who will best appreciate all of
the in-jokes and the cameos from lesser-known Muppets, to say nothing
of the wistfully funny situations in which the main players find
themselves. The newly initiated, meanwhile, can have fun pointing out
all the human celebrities, from contemporary child stars Selena Gomez
and Modern Family’s Rico Rodriguez to elder statesmen Mickey
Rooney and Alan Arkin. Jack Black gets more screen time than most as
Animal’s disgruntled anger management sponsor, and I’m sure I’m not the
only one who geeked out over the revelation of who Walter would look
like if he were human.
Then, of course, a menacing Chris
Cooper is the oil baron darkly commiserating with his paltry band of
sycophants as the fate of the Muppet Studio Theatre hangs in balance,
while Amy Adams brings her usual brand of sunshine with a spritzer of
vulnerability to Mary, a hands-on teacher so beloved by her students
they dread spring break but unable to secure a commitment from the man
she’s dated for a decade. Like Segel, she seems a perfect fit for the
Muppets’ harmonious mayhem.
Speaking of harmonies, there are
some great ones in this movie that features several original songs
written by Bret McKenzie, one-half of the brilliantly batty New Zealand
folk-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords.
His style meshes marvelously with the Muppets’ fine fusion of silliness
and warmth, with the two standouts the soul-searching duet between the
brothers and the lavish group number we hear at both the beginning and
end of the movie. Beyond that, we get classic Muppet fare like Rainbow Connection and Mahna Mahna
with a new twist or two, along with a few regular radio hits. If I’d
had any lingering doubt as to whether they were going to pull this off, I
would have relinquished it in sheer delight over the opening montage
set to the sprightly strains of a song Paul Simon once performed on Sesame Street.
However, even before the movie started I was grinning over the Toy Story short Small Fry,
which pokes fun at poorly conceived kids’ meal toys at fast food
restaurants. On a trip to a medieval-themed chicken joint, Buzz
Lightyear falls prey to a nefarious plot by a miniature Buzz who has
languished too long in the display case. After a romp in the ball pit,
Little Buzz makes his way into Bonnie’s backpack to hobnob with Woody
and the gang while the real Buzz wanders into a group therapy session
for discarded toys led by a militant mermaid voiced by Jane Lynch. Askew
versions of beloved characters and a bunch of oddballs finding solace
in each other appropriately foreshadows what’s to come in the movie
proper.
More than 15 years ago, Pixar established itself as a
studio capable of bringing that rare blend of sly wit and wholesome fun
that, coupled with a compelling story, makes an ideal family film. The
Jim Henson Company has always offered that type of entertainment, so The Muppets
is truly a joy from pre-start to finish. While reflecting upon the
wonders of the rainbow, a famous frog has postulated, “We know that it’s
probably magic.” If we’re talking about the rainbow of marvelous
misfits that make up the Muppets, there’s no “probably” about it.
Showing posts with label Jason Segel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jason Segel. Show all posts
Monday, November 28, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Steve Carell Makes a Lovable Villain in the Sweet and Funny Despicable Me
Last year, I saw a lot of previews for Despicable Me, as well as a
lot of commercials making use of the little yellow minions who populate
the movie. I was so taken with these odd critters that I got my picture
taken with them in the display at my local theater. Somehow, though, I
didn’t see the movie until this week. I’m glad I finally got around to
it.
I’m generally a fan of Steve Carell, whose career has consisted largely of him playing roles in which he is some sort of lovable loser. That’s the case here as well, but this time, he’s a super-villain named Gru. He’s certainly got the equipment for it; he has an enormous secret lair under his hazardous home, and he oversees thousands of minions, strange jabbering humanoids who are super-short and resemble yellow pills. He rumbles through town in an enormous metal contraption, and every time someone annoys him, he whips out his freeze ray and makes a popsicle out of him. But as the movie begins, he’s bemoaning the fact that a younger villain has pulled off the amazing feat of stealing the Pyramids, and suddenly all his accomplishments look pretty paltry. He needs to think big in order to compete, and what could be bigger than the moon? Indeed, Gru has been obsessed with the moon his whole life, and his plan to steal it, with some help from a shrink ray, is the culmination of that fixation.
Carell puts on a thick Russian accent for Gru, who is grumpy and anti-social but really not prime super-villain material. His hideous dog steals his food and chomps on his arm without repercussions. He leaves money in the tip jar at the coffee shop. He expresses concern for his minions’ job prospects when he believes that his plan is a bust. And whenever he’s in the presence, even by phone, of his severe mother, voiced by Julie Andrews, all of his boyhood vulnerabilities and disappointments come rushing back to him. He desperately wants her validation.
When Vector (Jason Segel), the twerpy, tracksuit-wearing villain who pulled off the Pyramid heist, gets ahold of the shrink ray Gru needs, he realizes that it’s going to take some fancy maneuvering to retrieve it. How can he get inside that fortress? Enter clever, cynical Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), mischievous, disaster-prone Edith (Dana Gaier) and adorable, affectionate Agnes (Elsie Fisher). These three orphan sisters live in a home run by sugary-sweet but sadistic Southerner Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig), who is eerily reminiscent of Dolores Umbridge, one of the most bone-chilling villains in the Harry Potter universe. She forces them to spend their days peddling cookies, and Vector has a sweet tooth, so Gru decides these girls are his ticket to the access he needs. He adopts them merely as a means to an end. But then a funny thing happens. He starts to get attached to them…
It was pretty obvious from the previews where this story was leading, but that didn’t make getting there any less fun or endearing. This computer-animated movie is visually attractive and filled with sight gags, particularly whenever the minions are on screen. These little guys all look pretty similar, yet each one has a distinct feature or two, and they’re always squabbling or goofing around or creating something in the background, always in the same incomprehensible language. Some of the movie’s most laugh-aloud moments involve them. Gru, meanwhile, is a terrific character, too easy to sympathize with to be repulsive. Each of the girls, so thrilled to have a home at last, reacts to him differently. Agnes adores him instantly, while Edith delights in defying him and Margo is afraid to get too close to him. His interactions with the girls are hilarious but often strangely sweet.
I rented this from Netflix, and I had a strange experience I’d never encountered before. I couldn’t play the bonus features. Instead, a message filled the screen, informing me that I would need to buy the DVD in order to watch the extra features. Is that unique to this movie, I wonder, or will this soon be a commonplace practice? I don’t tend to be that interested in bonus features beyond deleted scenes, but I still found it disappointing. However, the movie itself was every bit as entertaining as I’d hoped it would be. As touching as it is funny, Despicable Me isn’t despicable at all.
I’m generally a fan of Steve Carell, whose career has consisted largely of him playing roles in which he is some sort of lovable loser. That’s the case here as well, but this time, he’s a super-villain named Gru. He’s certainly got the equipment for it; he has an enormous secret lair under his hazardous home, and he oversees thousands of minions, strange jabbering humanoids who are super-short and resemble yellow pills. He rumbles through town in an enormous metal contraption, and every time someone annoys him, he whips out his freeze ray and makes a popsicle out of him. But as the movie begins, he’s bemoaning the fact that a younger villain has pulled off the amazing feat of stealing the Pyramids, and suddenly all his accomplishments look pretty paltry. He needs to think big in order to compete, and what could be bigger than the moon? Indeed, Gru has been obsessed with the moon his whole life, and his plan to steal it, with some help from a shrink ray, is the culmination of that fixation.
Carell puts on a thick Russian accent for Gru, who is grumpy and anti-social but really not prime super-villain material. His hideous dog steals his food and chomps on his arm without repercussions. He leaves money in the tip jar at the coffee shop. He expresses concern for his minions’ job prospects when he believes that his plan is a bust. And whenever he’s in the presence, even by phone, of his severe mother, voiced by Julie Andrews, all of his boyhood vulnerabilities and disappointments come rushing back to him. He desperately wants her validation.
When Vector (Jason Segel), the twerpy, tracksuit-wearing villain who pulled off the Pyramid heist, gets ahold of the shrink ray Gru needs, he realizes that it’s going to take some fancy maneuvering to retrieve it. How can he get inside that fortress? Enter clever, cynical Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), mischievous, disaster-prone Edith (Dana Gaier) and adorable, affectionate Agnes (Elsie Fisher). These three orphan sisters live in a home run by sugary-sweet but sadistic Southerner Miss Hattie (Kristen Wiig), who is eerily reminiscent of Dolores Umbridge, one of the most bone-chilling villains in the Harry Potter universe. She forces them to spend their days peddling cookies, and Vector has a sweet tooth, so Gru decides these girls are his ticket to the access he needs. He adopts them merely as a means to an end. But then a funny thing happens. He starts to get attached to them…
It was pretty obvious from the previews where this story was leading, but that didn’t make getting there any less fun or endearing. This computer-animated movie is visually attractive and filled with sight gags, particularly whenever the minions are on screen. These little guys all look pretty similar, yet each one has a distinct feature or two, and they’re always squabbling or goofing around or creating something in the background, always in the same incomprehensible language. Some of the movie’s most laugh-aloud moments involve them. Gru, meanwhile, is a terrific character, too easy to sympathize with to be repulsive. Each of the girls, so thrilled to have a home at last, reacts to him differently. Agnes adores him instantly, while Edith delights in defying him and Margo is afraid to get too close to him. His interactions with the girls are hilarious but often strangely sweet.
I rented this from Netflix, and I had a strange experience I’d never encountered before. I couldn’t play the bonus features. Instead, a message filled the screen, informing me that I would need to buy the DVD in order to watch the extra features. Is that unique to this movie, I wonder, or will this soon be a commonplace practice? I don’t tend to be that interested in bonus features beyond deleted scenes, but I still found it disappointing. However, the movie itself was every bit as entertaining as I’d hoped it would be. As touching as it is funny, Despicable Me isn’t despicable at all.
Monday, March 15, 2010
The Good Humor Man Doesn't Put Me In a Bad Humor
LOST
is my favorite show on television, now or ever, and it has given me
dozens of characters in whom to become emotionally invested. Among
those, it’s pretty much impossible to choose a single favorite, but one
of the top contenders has always been Hugo “Hurley” Reyes, a huggable
teddy bear of a guy who can always be counted upon to deliver a laugh
and a whole lot of love. He’s played by Jorge Garcia, whose list of
other roles is limited to 20 or so. Only three of his movies are
available on Netflix, and one is a Christmas movie, so I decided to go
ahead and rent the other two in order to give me a bit of Jorge in
another context.
Little Athens arrived first, and I found it tedious in every respect. Hoping for better luck, I popped in The Good Humor Man. It came out the same year - 2005 - and received the same rating - R. Both movies include nudity, drug use, violence and excessive profanity. The difference is that The Good Humor Man, written and directed by Tenney Fairchild, also has a decent story.
Jay (Nathan Stevens) is a run-of-the-mill high school student. He’s a bit of a loser, in love with a girl way out of his league and getting a charge out of such pranks as dumping fake vomit over his fellow cinema-goers from the balcony before bolting. His best friend is a slacker nicknamed Mt. Rushmore (Garcia).
The two of them hang out with an assortment of burnouts that includes Jason Segel as the cantankerous Smelly Bob, which strengthens the connection between this movie and the superior series Freaks and Geeks. Like Lindsay Weir, Jay doesn’t feel entirely comfortable with these delinquents, but he spends time with them anyway, at least until something happens to make him seriously question the company he keeps.
There are some movies in which an R rating seems inevitable and appropriate, but as I watched, I couldn’t help thinking that all of the elements that make The Good Humor Man deserving of that rating are unnecessary. I would have much preferred the movie if it had been a little bit less abrasive. Freaks and Geeks never needed a flurry of colorful metaphors or bare bosoms to feel thoroughly realistic.
That said, I found Jay a very likable character, and the same goes for his crush Wendy (Cameron Richardson), a sweet girl who soon proves to be more than just a pretty face. As with Little Athens, I was disappointed that Garcia’s role was smaller than I’d expected, but I found this character much more sympathetic, albeit still not nearly as endearing as Hurley. I also loved Kelsey Grammer’s brief appearance in the role of Jay’s supportive, thoroughly PG-rated father.
It could be that my distaste for Little Athens caused me to enjoy this movie more than I otherwise might have. But while I could have done without all the swearing, I did find it to be entirely watchable. If you want a really great peek into the lives of high schoolers in the late 1970s / early 1980s, check out Freaks and Geeks. But if you’re willing to settle for just good, The Good Humor Man delivers.
Little Athens arrived first, and I found it tedious in every respect. Hoping for better luck, I popped in The Good Humor Man. It came out the same year - 2005 - and received the same rating - R. Both movies include nudity, drug use, violence and excessive profanity. The difference is that The Good Humor Man, written and directed by Tenney Fairchild, also has a decent story.
Jay (Nathan Stevens) is a run-of-the-mill high school student. He’s a bit of a loser, in love with a girl way out of his league and getting a charge out of such pranks as dumping fake vomit over his fellow cinema-goers from the balcony before bolting. His best friend is a slacker nicknamed Mt. Rushmore (Garcia).
The two of them hang out with an assortment of burnouts that includes Jason Segel as the cantankerous Smelly Bob, which strengthens the connection between this movie and the superior series Freaks and Geeks. Like Lindsay Weir, Jay doesn’t feel entirely comfortable with these delinquents, but he spends time with them anyway, at least until something happens to make him seriously question the company he keeps.
There are some movies in which an R rating seems inevitable and appropriate, but as I watched, I couldn’t help thinking that all of the elements that make The Good Humor Man deserving of that rating are unnecessary. I would have much preferred the movie if it had been a little bit less abrasive. Freaks and Geeks never needed a flurry of colorful metaphors or bare bosoms to feel thoroughly realistic.
That said, I found Jay a very likable character, and the same goes for his crush Wendy (Cameron Richardson), a sweet girl who soon proves to be more than just a pretty face. As with Little Athens, I was disappointed that Garcia’s role was smaller than I’d expected, but I found this character much more sympathetic, albeit still not nearly as endearing as Hurley. I also loved Kelsey Grammer’s brief appearance in the role of Jay’s supportive, thoroughly PG-rated father.
It could be that my distaste for Little Athens caused me to enjoy this movie more than I otherwise might have. But while I could have done without all the swearing, I did find it to be entirely watchable. If you want a really great peek into the lives of high schoolers in the late 1970s / early 1980s, check out Freaks and Geeks. But if you’re willing to settle for just good, The Good Humor Man delivers.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Jason Segel Gets Freaky Again in I Love You, Man
I go to see movies at the theater for a variety of reasons. One draw
lately has been the presence of actors and actresses from favorite
television shows as they branch out into films. Freaks and Geeks and The Office got me interested in I Love You, Man,
a buddy comedy featuring Jason Segel and Rashida Jones as Sydney and
Zooey, the two most important people in the life of socially awkward
real estate agent Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd). The R rating might have
scared me off of buying a ticket, but I couldn't resist the free
preview, so this evening I enjoyed a girls' night out watching a movie
all about male bonding.
Judd Apatow isn't attached to this movie in any way, but director John Hamburg, who wrote the screenplay with Larry Levin, seems to be taking a leaf from Apatow's book. The comedy is extremely raunchy, but it also has a lot of heart. Aside from the occasional superfluous f-bomb and some alluded-to pre-marital nocturnal activities, real estate agent Peter is a PG kind of guy living in an R-rated world. He's sweet and considerate, a romantic who is attentive to his girlfriend and respectful to women in general. Around men, he's a little more uncomfortable, partly because he somehow is surrounded by a bunch of boorish brutes, like office frenemy Tevin (Rob Huebel), who laughs uproariously over inappropriate videos and tries to weasel in on Peter's commission, and Barry (Jon Favreau), the aggressive, confrontational husband of Zooey's friend Denise (Jaime Pressly). It isn't until he proposes and Zooey celebrates the news with her gal pals that his lack of male friendships really hits home.
Thus, the first part of the movie finds Peter rather pathetically pursuing a friend of his own through a series of disastrous "man dates" that include poker night with a bunch of beer-swilling hotheads, a soccer game with an excitable guy who sounds like a Muppet and dinner with a fellow who's a little too companionable for comfort. As is so often the case, however, the "aha!" moment comes when Peter isn't looking for it. He stumbles upon the uninhibited Sydney by accident and is taken aback by his candor and their easy rapport with each other. Friendship blooms. Sydney, who supports himself with an investment career but otherwise lives in an extended state of adolescence, begins to bring Peter out of his shell. Peter's happy, and Zooey is happy for him - until it starts to seem like Sydney has taken over his life...
I was a big fan of Nick Andopolis, the earnest, gentle, perpetually stoned teen Segel played on Freaks and Geeks. Sydney is like him in some ways, particularly in his fondness for jamming in his garage. Like Nick, he's a goofball but a good friend. However, he is much more attuned to the world around him than Nick is, and he's got a fairly crass attitude about relationships, especially his own. While I definitely prefer Nick, Sydney is a pretty good guy, and his cleverness comes across particularly well in one scene that requires keeping a close eye on the screen. Jones never really won me over on The Office, but then I suspect she wasn't supposed to. Instead of an icy romantic rival, she's a warm, caring woman here, very much in love with her fiance and eager to show him affection while leaving him space to develop his own interests and friendships. It would have been very easy in a movie like this to turn the wife-to-be into a shrew, but she doesn't come across that way at all. There's never much doubt that these two are an ideal couple. (While we're on the subject of favorite television shows, fellow LOST fans should keep an eye out for a reference that made my friend and me squeal for all in the packed house to hear.)
Some of the more innocent humor in the film derives from Peter's mangled attempts to sound suave when talking with others, particularly Sydney. The results are so ridiculous that I found myself thinking of bumbling Tim nonsensically regurgitating Wilson's sage advice on Home Improvement. I also like the dynamics of his family, particularly between his dad (J. K. Simmons) and brother Robbie (Andy Samberg), who both care for Peter deeply but don't seem to understand him as well as his doting mother (Jane Curtin) does. As a big fan of Saturday Night Live, particularly since his arrival, I could have done with more Samberg, but his scenes do a good job of establishing the dynamics of Peter and Robbie's brotherhood. Unfortunately, for every touching family moment or guilt-free laugh, there is an entirely too anatomical joke or a monologue filled with four-letter words. The profanity is fairly pervasive, and some of the sexually charged subject matter is likely to offend, while a running joke involving dog defecation is distasteful at best. The plus side is that most of the really lewd stuff is verbal rather than visual, so while this movie earns its R rating many times over, it's still considerably less graphic than it could have been.
As with just about every R-rated comedy I've ever seen, I walked away thinking, "Well, I would have liked that better if it had been PG-13." Put my objections to the conventions of contemporary "adult" comedies aside, though, and you've got a movie with a fair number of laughs and a trio of characters you just can't help but root for.
Judd Apatow isn't attached to this movie in any way, but director John Hamburg, who wrote the screenplay with Larry Levin, seems to be taking a leaf from Apatow's book. The comedy is extremely raunchy, but it also has a lot of heart. Aside from the occasional superfluous f-bomb and some alluded-to pre-marital nocturnal activities, real estate agent Peter is a PG kind of guy living in an R-rated world. He's sweet and considerate, a romantic who is attentive to his girlfriend and respectful to women in general. Around men, he's a little more uncomfortable, partly because he somehow is surrounded by a bunch of boorish brutes, like office frenemy Tevin (Rob Huebel), who laughs uproariously over inappropriate videos and tries to weasel in on Peter's commission, and Barry (Jon Favreau), the aggressive, confrontational husband of Zooey's friend Denise (Jaime Pressly). It isn't until he proposes and Zooey celebrates the news with her gal pals that his lack of male friendships really hits home.
Thus, the first part of the movie finds Peter rather pathetically pursuing a friend of his own through a series of disastrous "man dates" that include poker night with a bunch of beer-swilling hotheads, a soccer game with an excitable guy who sounds like a Muppet and dinner with a fellow who's a little too companionable for comfort. As is so often the case, however, the "aha!" moment comes when Peter isn't looking for it. He stumbles upon the uninhibited Sydney by accident and is taken aback by his candor and their easy rapport with each other. Friendship blooms. Sydney, who supports himself with an investment career but otherwise lives in an extended state of adolescence, begins to bring Peter out of his shell. Peter's happy, and Zooey is happy for him - until it starts to seem like Sydney has taken over his life...
I was a big fan of Nick Andopolis, the earnest, gentle, perpetually stoned teen Segel played on Freaks and Geeks. Sydney is like him in some ways, particularly in his fondness for jamming in his garage. Like Nick, he's a goofball but a good friend. However, he is much more attuned to the world around him than Nick is, and he's got a fairly crass attitude about relationships, especially his own. While I definitely prefer Nick, Sydney is a pretty good guy, and his cleverness comes across particularly well in one scene that requires keeping a close eye on the screen. Jones never really won me over on The Office, but then I suspect she wasn't supposed to. Instead of an icy romantic rival, she's a warm, caring woman here, very much in love with her fiance and eager to show him affection while leaving him space to develop his own interests and friendships. It would have been very easy in a movie like this to turn the wife-to-be into a shrew, but she doesn't come across that way at all. There's never much doubt that these two are an ideal couple. (While we're on the subject of favorite television shows, fellow LOST fans should keep an eye out for a reference that made my friend and me squeal for all in the packed house to hear.)
Some of the more innocent humor in the film derives from Peter's mangled attempts to sound suave when talking with others, particularly Sydney. The results are so ridiculous that I found myself thinking of bumbling Tim nonsensically regurgitating Wilson's sage advice on Home Improvement. I also like the dynamics of his family, particularly between his dad (J. K. Simmons) and brother Robbie (Andy Samberg), who both care for Peter deeply but don't seem to understand him as well as his doting mother (Jane Curtin) does. As a big fan of Saturday Night Live, particularly since his arrival, I could have done with more Samberg, but his scenes do a good job of establishing the dynamics of Peter and Robbie's brotherhood. Unfortunately, for every touching family moment or guilt-free laugh, there is an entirely too anatomical joke or a monologue filled with four-letter words. The profanity is fairly pervasive, and some of the sexually charged subject matter is likely to offend, while a running joke involving dog defecation is distasteful at best. The plus side is that most of the really lewd stuff is verbal rather than visual, so while this movie earns its R rating many times over, it's still considerably less graphic than it could have been.
As with just about every R-rated comedy I've ever seen, I walked away thinking, "Well, I would have liked that better if it had been PG-13." Put my objections to the conventions of contemporary "adult" comedies aside, though, and you've got a movie with a fair number of laughs and a trio of characters you just can't help but root for.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Seth Rogen Follows in Steve Carell's Footsteps in Knocked Up
A few years ago, if I had seen the trailers for Judd Apatow's Knocked Up,
I probably would not have said to myself, "Now, that is a movie I need
to see." One-night stands? Potty humor? Excessive profanity? R rating?
Sounds more like something to avoid. But as much as those factors caused
me to question how much I would enjoy the film, I couldn't help but be
intrigued; Apatow's Freaks and Geeks, which I embraced when it arrived on DVD, was a brilliant show, and while The 40-Year-Old Virgin was pretty crude for my tastes, it had heart. So after hearing many gushing reviews, I decided I'd better check out Knocked Up and see if it lived up to the hype.
The first thing I'll say for Apatow is that he is loyal. No fewer than five Freaks and Geeks alums put in an appearance, starting with Seth Rogen as kind but clueless schlub Ben Stone, whose drunken shenanigans with Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl), a beautiful, ambitious young correspondent who has just received a promotion, lead to her pregnancy. While Rogen's character was the least developed of the "freak" crowd of which he was a part on Freaks and Geeks, he made a strong impression nonetheless, and when he showed up in Virgin, this time in a chattier role, it became easier to envision him as a leading man. Ben may be a loser who's never worked and whose last name seems to be a nod to his favorite activity, but he really carries the movie, especially when we realize that despite his inertia and rather foul mouth, he's actually a very sweet guy.
Other familiar faces from Freaks and Geeks include Jason Segel and Martin Starr as two of Ben's perpetually stoned housemates. There are echoes of their characters from that show in their performances here; Jason is intense to an intimidating level, while Martin is put upon by the others. (The quartet of guys with whom Ben resides all share a first name with the actors who portray them; the other two are played by Jonah Hill, who had a brief but memorable role in Virgin, and Jay Baruchel, from Apatow's short-lived television series Undeclared.) James Franco shows up as himself putting in a plug for Spider-man 3, which several characters later go see, perhaps in a sly show of support for Franco by Apatow, who not only directed Knocked Up but wrote the script. Leslie Mann, who had a brief role on Freaks and Geeks as a teacher on whom Bill had a crush and in Virgin as a disastrous potential date for Andy, plays Allison's shrill sister Debbie, whose seemingly ideal marriage to the melancholy Pete (Paul Rudd, from Virgin) is crumbling despite the presence of two adorable daughters (Maude and Iris Apatow).
Among the few cast members without a previous Apatow connection, Harold Ramis, who looks and sounds remarkably like Rogen, is both funny and tender as Ben's dad, and SNL cast member Kristen Wiig is hilarious as Jill, a higher-up who quietly offers Allison icily insincere congratulations for landing a plum position. Bill Hader, also of SNL, doesn't stand out much as Allison's co-worker Brent but is still amusing, as is Alan Tudyk as Jack, her too-cheerful boss.
All of these characters add to the film in one way or another, but the success of the movie really depends upon Rogen and Heigl, and they play off one another very well. While they don't seem like a very likely couple, the circumstances of Ben and Allison's meeting and subsequent hook-up are believable; chalk it up to a gentlemanly gesture on Ben's part and Allison's promotion-induced adrenaline. Besides, she may be a knockout, but she's also very down-to-earth and doesn't seem to think herself better than Ben, at least until he tells her about his "job", which involves pin-pointing all the nude scenes in various films for chronicling on a website he and his buddies are working on, and confesses that he's spent all of his adult life thus far living off the money he received when a mail truck ran over his foot. Despite her dubious impression of how he spends his time, once she learns of the pregnancy and decides to keep the baby, she's determined to at least give their relationship a shot, and he's willing, at least on some level, to step up to the challenge of being a father.
In romantic terms, I preferred Knocked Up to Virgin, as I liked both parties equally and was really rooting for them to end up together. While Ben's lethargic pals aren't as engaging as Andy's co-workers, they still form a decent support system; meanwhile, the friendship that develops between Ben and Pete is charming, and Allison shares some nice moments with her sister. In terms of vulgarity, I can't decide which of the films is cruder. Both are quite heavy on the profanity and the explicit references to sexuality, though what we actually see on screen is somewhat limited. I didn't find the movie any more offensive than I expected; reviews and my prior experience with Virgin left me well prepared. Still, despite the ultimately fairly warm and fuzzy undercurrent, this is not a film I would recommend to all audiences. My parents are intrigued enough by what they've heard to want to check it out; I suspect they will find it equal parts funny, touching and mortifying.
I won't heap "movie of the summer"-type accolades on this film, but I will say that fans of Apatow's first film should enjoy his second, which may do for Rogen what Virgin did for Steve Carell. I don't think either comes close to capturing the perfect blend of hilarity and drama found in Freaks and Geeks, which was situated firmly in PG-13, if not strictly PG, territory. I'd like to see him do a movie more in that vein, but until he does, his first two film outings are worthwhile efforts. Just get ready to click the ol' internal mute button a few dozen times...
The first thing I'll say for Apatow is that he is loyal. No fewer than five Freaks and Geeks alums put in an appearance, starting with Seth Rogen as kind but clueless schlub Ben Stone, whose drunken shenanigans with Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl), a beautiful, ambitious young correspondent who has just received a promotion, lead to her pregnancy. While Rogen's character was the least developed of the "freak" crowd of which he was a part on Freaks and Geeks, he made a strong impression nonetheless, and when he showed up in Virgin, this time in a chattier role, it became easier to envision him as a leading man. Ben may be a loser who's never worked and whose last name seems to be a nod to his favorite activity, but he really carries the movie, especially when we realize that despite his inertia and rather foul mouth, he's actually a very sweet guy.
Other familiar faces from Freaks and Geeks include Jason Segel and Martin Starr as two of Ben's perpetually stoned housemates. There are echoes of their characters from that show in their performances here; Jason is intense to an intimidating level, while Martin is put upon by the others. (The quartet of guys with whom Ben resides all share a first name with the actors who portray them; the other two are played by Jonah Hill, who had a brief but memorable role in Virgin, and Jay Baruchel, from Apatow's short-lived television series Undeclared.) James Franco shows up as himself putting in a plug for Spider-man 3, which several characters later go see, perhaps in a sly show of support for Franco by Apatow, who not only directed Knocked Up but wrote the script. Leslie Mann, who had a brief role on Freaks and Geeks as a teacher on whom Bill had a crush and in Virgin as a disastrous potential date for Andy, plays Allison's shrill sister Debbie, whose seemingly ideal marriage to the melancholy Pete (Paul Rudd, from Virgin) is crumbling despite the presence of two adorable daughters (Maude and Iris Apatow).
Among the few cast members without a previous Apatow connection, Harold Ramis, who looks and sounds remarkably like Rogen, is both funny and tender as Ben's dad, and SNL cast member Kristen Wiig is hilarious as Jill, a higher-up who quietly offers Allison icily insincere congratulations for landing a plum position. Bill Hader, also of SNL, doesn't stand out much as Allison's co-worker Brent but is still amusing, as is Alan Tudyk as Jack, her too-cheerful boss.
All of these characters add to the film in one way or another, but the success of the movie really depends upon Rogen and Heigl, and they play off one another very well. While they don't seem like a very likely couple, the circumstances of Ben and Allison's meeting and subsequent hook-up are believable; chalk it up to a gentlemanly gesture on Ben's part and Allison's promotion-induced adrenaline. Besides, she may be a knockout, but she's also very down-to-earth and doesn't seem to think herself better than Ben, at least until he tells her about his "job", which involves pin-pointing all the nude scenes in various films for chronicling on a website he and his buddies are working on, and confesses that he's spent all of his adult life thus far living off the money he received when a mail truck ran over his foot. Despite her dubious impression of how he spends his time, once she learns of the pregnancy and decides to keep the baby, she's determined to at least give their relationship a shot, and he's willing, at least on some level, to step up to the challenge of being a father.
In romantic terms, I preferred Knocked Up to Virgin, as I liked both parties equally and was really rooting for them to end up together. While Ben's lethargic pals aren't as engaging as Andy's co-workers, they still form a decent support system; meanwhile, the friendship that develops between Ben and Pete is charming, and Allison shares some nice moments with her sister. In terms of vulgarity, I can't decide which of the films is cruder. Both are quite heavy on the profanity and the explicit references to sexuality, though what we actually see on screen is somewhat limited. I didn't find the movie any more offensive than I expected; reviews and my prior experience with Virgin left me well prepared. Still, despite the ultimately fairly warm and fuzzy undercurrent, this is not a film I would recommend to all audiences. My parents are intrigued enough by what they've heard to want to check it out; I suspect they will find it equal parts funny, touching and mortifying.
I won't heap "movie of the summer"-type accolades on this film, but I will say that fans of Apatow's first film should enjoy his second, which may do for Rogen what Virgin did for Steve Carell. I don't think either comes close to capturing the perfect blend of hilarity and drama found in Freaks and Geeks, which was situated firmly in PG-13, if not strictly PG, territory. I'd like to see him do a movie more in that vein, but until he does, his first two film outings are worthwhile efforts. Just get ready to click the ol' internal mute button a few dozen times...
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