![]() But if Alison weren’t so pregnant, you’d swear she was stuck in the role of the sacrificial virgin. It should come as no surprise that a movie like this will be firmly entrenched in the boys’-eye-view. But it’s never measured up to her own hopes or dreams for a relationship. Alison’s view of her future with Ben fluctuates according to what he does or doesn’t do in a given situation, or how well or badly her sister and brother-in-law Pete (Paul Rudd) are getting along. It’s another thing altogether for the heroine, who in true girl-on-pedestal form is beautiful, smart, successful, nice and pretty much cool with everything, never to get even the tiniest chance to wonder if maybe she might have done a little better. It’s one thing to go with the idea that Ben and Alison dwell in different leagues, which after all is the point of the movie. But “Knocked Up” is so enamored of Ben and his insouciant charm that it fails to wonder what it must feel like for the girl. It’s a promising premise, and Apatow takes it unexpected directions. And yet here, an ill-advised one-night stand leads to an unplanned pregnancy, an unplanned pregnancy leads to a decision to keep the baby, and a decision to keep the baby leads to the young odd couple, barely into their 20s, deciding to make the best of it and try to make the as-yet-nonexistent relationship work. Is this what it’s come to for the youth of today? The result of all Facebook and no face-to-face? Because there once was a time, long ago, when to get these two together, you’d have had to maroon them on the Blue Lagoon. ![]() ![]() When Debbie is prematurely called away on a child-related emergency, Alison decides to stay behind and keep drinking with Ben and his buddies - much to their surprise and, frankly, ours. Ben and Alison meet one evening at a nightclub where Alison has gone to celebrate a promotion with her older, married sister, Debbie (Leslie Mann). Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is a dewy Valkyrie, recently promoted to on-camera talent on the E! network. But if “Virgin” mined all that was most pathetic and painful about its hero’s predicament to create the kind of comedy that made you want to avert your eyes and scream, “Knocked Up” takes it surprisingly easy on Rogen’s character, Ben, even though he’s young and beefy and could probably handle the criticism.īen Stone (Rogen) is an amiable slacker and dedicated stoner whose marshmallow physique underscores his even softer aspirations. The distinctive element in Apatow’s comedy has always been his love for what might be called the differently socialized (the term “loser” buys in too readily to a system that the writer-director clearly doesn’t subscribe to), and “Knocked Up” follows happily in that tradition, with the opening sequence an exuberant tribute to the dumb life. The movie hopes so too, so it seriously stacks the deck in his favor. THE poster for Judd Apatow’s first feature, “The 40Year-Old Virgin,” gave us Steve Carell gazing beatifically into the middle distance above the encouraging tagline, “Better late than never.” The poster for his second feature, “Knocked Up,” gives us Seth Rogen gazing sheepishly into the camera below the rather more sobering “What if this guy got you pregnant?” Rogen arches an eyebrow in a way that suggests he knows you could do better.
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