Awful movie Horrible, terrible, awful! There are not enough words to describe this movie. I finally had to turn it off about half way through because it was absolute torture to watch the rest. Bad acting and a total lack of chemistry between the characters. All I can say is that I am thankful that I didn't spend the money to see this in the theater. Don't waste your time or your money!
Mildly entertaining at best I don't honestly get the appeal of this movie. I'd heard a lot of good buzz about it while it was in the theaters, but in truth, I watched about 20 minutes of it and gave up throwing good minutes-of-my-life after bad.
Part of it is that Katherine Heigl's recent interviews on this movie and on Grey's Anatomy have left me with little respect for her, making it kind of hard to listen to her shrillness.
The general plot of the movie isn't believable (since when does a successful woman decide to date the high school drop out, even if she does get pregnant by him?) and believability is forgivable if the comedic potential is realized, but here it is not, which simply leaves me feeling like it's trying to be absurd but somehow failing.
A Pathetic Sign of the Times The message Hollywood appears to be sending burgeoning cradle to grave twenty-something consumers in this crude, unintelligent, pathetic film is "Go ahead! Be irresponsible! Show a complete and utter lack of common sense! Have no self-respect and get pregnant out of wedlock with the next drunken rube who comes along! Why? Because everybody loves babies!"
This film is as offensive and unsettling as movies can get. There's absolutely no resonance to the film....no emotional core to help even justify the ludicrous relationship between these two characters and what transpires. The film's bottom line is sometimes (often?) white, middle class twenty-somethings get drunk, and babies are born....and sometimes (almost never?) the egg donor and the sperm donor end up staying together against all odds and the child is subsequently raised in a loving, healthy family environment. Needless to say, the f-bombs tossed around in the movie are beyond overkill, as are the adolescent antics of the male lead and his neanderthal roommates. Simply put, it's a horrible film.
Still, the overwhelming sucess of this movie among young adults (I use the term "adults" loosely) and the film's beyond misguided attempt at providing a "heartwarming" love story under the guise of "comedy" holds up a very real mirror to the American cultural obsession with motherhood, pregnancy and childbirth on the one hand and Hollywood's stop-at-nothing attitude toward harnessing the basest aspects of American youth culture in order to make a buck.
Katherine Heigl was right when she claimed the subject matter of Knocked Up was offensive to women. The title says it all. If only the beautiful and talented Ms. Heigl had steered clear of the movie altogether and directed her talents to a more worthy endeavor. I'm sure she would be the first to agree.
Crude is right I have to agree with the "Just Plain Crude" review. If you took out all the profanity, 95% of the dialogue would disappear. The sex scenes made it embarrassing to watch, even though it was just my husband and I viewing it. We're in our early 40's and are probably too old for this movie but we wonder if this is the way most 20 somethings communicate today. It was quite offensive, to say the least. That being said, there were some moments when I admired Ben and Alison's attempts at working out their relationship, highly improbable though that was, and accepting responsibility for the new life they created in drunken stupidity. The scene where Ben talks to the obnoxious stand-in obstetrician on Alison's behalf, is almost touching. But when he reams out her regular doctor on the phone, his whole tirade can be bleeped out. This movie has an Adam Sandler quality about it. Just when a serious moment arises, it's blown out of the water by something weird, obscene or vulgar. Had it not been for the overall crude nature of this movie, the basic story of a young couple dealing with a life changing event may have worked. But "Knocked Up" handles it badly. I wish I hadn't wasted my time watching it.
Just Plain Crude Maybe I'm just old - and I certainly don't consider myself a prude - but I cannot believe the vulgarity in the dialogue in this movie, especially in mixed company. All us guys talk "locker room" when by ourselves...but crude references to oral (and other kinds) of sex in front of women? If this is really the way younger people talk nowadays, our society is headed for extinction. I watched this movie strictly because of Katherine Heigl whom I think is adorable and whose looks remind me of the pretty girls from the 50's and 60's. It was disappointing to hear her use such vulgarity. I know she's a professional actress and it's her job to read the script. Hopefully she will get much better films than this to work in as she's very appealing on screen and a decent actress. The story itself is good, but hardly believeable. Nowadays, few women that attractive would hook up with such a geeky-looking guy like that for one night, much less fall in love with him and bear his child.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Not Available Comics
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
