Knocked Up

A lot of directorial ideas and screenwriting gimmicks (interviews with celebrities, parodies of actors) and an excellent main duo (in terms of acting) in a very unconventional film with loads of realistically sounding vulgarities. These are the things that will surprise, if not charm you. But there are also things that are not so good. First and foremost, the immensely long runtime is bothersome considering the genre, and when the director wants to play at a realistic comedy, he should realise that a classy lady working for television, who makes decent money, would not even look at a disgusting sleazy loser like Seth Rogen in a bar. The way their relationship develops is ridiculous, and although the personal opinion and attitude of each viewer a big role in it, it didn't strike me as a particularly realistic story that could happen to anyone. Not to mention the hasty transformation from a slacker to a role model (Ben decides to take his first job and in the next shot he's already buying his own apartment and furniture...). It's a different and pleasantly uninhibited comedy, but the plot twists could use some work. (08/03/2008)

Judd Apatow confirmed his genius to me with this amazing film and, most importantly, disproved the myth that a great romantic comedy (even if at times it wasn't that funny) doesn't need to have a frugal running time "for the sake of its own success" if there’s a how and a what to tell. I probably would have snickered if someone had told me I would love a two-hour comedy (mostly a comedy.:)) whose central theme is unplanned conception. But Knocked Up isn't just any comedy, it's first and foremost a wonderfully human story with an well developed script in which two seemingly completely different people (sometimes hilariously, sometimes bitterly) who have very little in common gradually find their way to each other. Seth Rogen's fecal humor is brilliantly contrasted here with the delicacy of Katherine Heigl, who is wonderfully endearing in her sudden pregnancy and impossible not to love. The absolute pinnacle of the "romantic comedy" genre for the last 10 years. (05/18/2013)

What if this man got you pregnant? Although Knocked Up doesn’t offend me in any way, and in its genre I even liked it, I am rather horrified that this type of routineer humor might well dictate the trend across the Pond for the next few years. To start with, Apatow isn’t Kevin Smith. Apatow also tries to make pop-culture references and “coolly crude" talk almost anywhere, but where Smith uses these ingredients to impart something or at least for entertainment, Apatow throws out random references to a movie/TV show/game or the word “fuck" and carries on with something else. Nothing comes of them, they lead nowhere and the movie would give exactly the same impression even without them. Luckily Knocked Up isn’t purely a comedy. Basically a classic romantic genre piece where, to lighten things up, we have a couple of characters who stir up the otherwise rather serious waters. The cast is pleasant and so in the end what harms the picture most is the over-ambitious length. Some scenes are just crying out to be cut. An ideal movie for a date. Both of you will find something you like about it, you’ll have fun and you’ll have enough time to devote to other activities without really missing anything happening on the screen. (10/04/2007)

There can never be enough good comedies, and to not criticize Katherine Heigl too much, she did quite well in this role. But mainly because she had a great partner. Seth Rogen is one of those actors who are vulgar, their comedies are not kind, but rather rough, they are obscene and unfiltered. The movie "Zbouchnutá" is exactly like that, where a bit - actually a big dose - of alcohol leads to two people getting together, not using protection, and voila, they are expecting a baby. What is the sobering realization when she finds out that the father of her future child is a bit of a dirty pig, about whom she wouldn't even lean on with an umbrella when sober. But in the end, they somehow make it work, they prepare for the baby, they argue with each other properly, but then everything turns out fine. I know, the ending is a bit cliché, but what can you do. The jokes in the movie are good, maybe it's a bit long, but otherwise it's one of the better comedies we've seen in a while. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/04/bruce-clint-simon-david-zbouchnuta-v.html (02/17/2013)

A comedy should entertain and I have no choice but to say that I didn't laugh once during the whole two hours - in fact, I didn't even get the feeling that I should be laughing. Whenever a situation that seemed like humor was approaching, it was usually ruined by some vulgarity, stupidity, or the scriptwriter's failure. This film clearly targets a younger audience in their teenage years, which is the reason for the naivety, insincerity of the storytelling, and cheaper humor. It remains true that the film can convey some timeless differences between the female and male perspectives on the world and relationships, but a film like Barefoot in the Park can sell romance and immaturity of relationships twice as effectively with infinitely greater elegance and style, and any episode of The Simpsons can reveal the struggles of parenthood and marriage in a lot funnier and more cultivated way. The main female characters, led by Katherine Heigl, are a good aspect of the film, as well as the awareness that American studios produce infinitely dumber and more poorly crafted films in the same genre. Overall impression: 40%. (10/12/2010)