What Do The Critics Say?

"Uproarious. While keeping your funny bone occupied, quietly reaches for your heart bone. Yes, it's coarse, okay, vulgar, and crude. Alas, the title doesn't promise you tact. Ross Anthony HOLLYWOOD REPORT CARD "A refreshingly frank, funny odd-couple comedy with engaging leads and too many belly laughs to count. Tom Charity CNN.COM "A mega-laugh comedy about the messiness of change with lovable characters whose humor and flawed humanity make them very appealing. Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat SPIRITUALITY & PRACTICE "Knocked Up is full of huge laughs and witty pop culture banter but also offers insightful and honest explorations of marriage, relationships, friendship and parenthood. Adam Graham DETROIT NEWS "Apatow knows precisely how to cast his projects and it helps when a little loyalty goes a long way. Ben’s household is a virtual reunion of Apatow’s terrific and unheraldly cancelled shows, Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. Jason Segel gets more laughs in his scenes with this material than a full season and a half of the dreadful "How I Met Your Mother". What do I already know after just one screening? That this belongs on the short list of the best comedies of the last twenty years." Erik Childress eFILMCRITIC.COM

"Apatow's sharp writing and directing keep the film grounded even as the plot falls into a rom-com formula. The characters are full of life, played naturally by the gifted cast to draw out the absurd humour in everyday situations. We can certainly all identify with the rampant self-doubt everyone struggles with. Tiny details keep us laughing out loud and set us up for the more outrageous comedy set pieces. If the language is blunt, the sex awkward, the medical sessions freaky, it's because this is how real people talk, behave and react. Each character has his or her unique reaction to what happens around them, struggling with change and acceptance." Rich Cline SHADOWS ON THE WALL "Knocked Up is uproarious. Line for line, minute to minute, writer-director Judd Apatow's latest effort is more explosively funny, more frequently, than nearly any other major studio release in recent memory." Joe Leydon VARIETY "I doubt you'll see a funnier movie this summer than Knocked Up. Apatow has clearly earned the unusual mantle of chief chronicler of modern family life in all its profane glory." Michael Booth DENVER POST "I did not know what to expect going into this film. I was prepared for an offensive natured film, but I was very surprised. This film was clean and had taste." Vince Koehler ENTERTAINMENT SPECTRUM "How can a movie be simultaneously profane and sweet? When it's "Knocked Up," the latest from screenwriter/director Judd Apatow. Don't be fooled by its cute story line: This is a film strictly for adults: Some of the dialogue is as raunchy as anything you'll hear in an R-rated action or horror film. And a birth sequence is surprisingly graphic. Grownup audiences will hear few pregnant pauses between bursts of laughter. Apatow has delivered another comedy hit." Linda Cook QUAD CITY TIMES

The Inside Story Judd Apatow first noticed Seth Rogen on a taped audition for "Freaks and Geeks", the television show he was executive producing in 1999. "I saw him on this casting tape from Vancouver," Apatow recalls. "I thought, '‘This guy has a funny sounding voice, and I should see him in person.' So I went to Vancouver. Seth came in and was hilarious, so we created a part for him on the show." After the critically acclaimed program was abruptly canceled, Apatow hired Rogen again, this time as an actor and a writer on 2001’s "Undeclared", a series Apatow created about a group of college freshman. "When I started working on "Undeclared", I hired Seth to be in the cast and to be a very cheap writer on the show," Apatow remembers. "But then, as it turned out, he was among the best writers on the show, and he was only 18 years old. He was really good. Good to the point it was embarrassing." By the time "The 40 Year Old Virgin" came along, Apatow decided that having Rogen around was advantageous to all. "I thought, 'I can throw Seth in the movie and he’ll be there every day to help me make everything else funny.' I always have my eye open for the next funny guy who can carry a movie." Those who took in "The 40 Year Old Virgin" will remember Rogen as the tattooed, burly, deep-voiced stockroom guy Cal, who was the was not only the perfect contrast to Andy Stitzer, Steve Carell’s fastidious, buttoned-up, middle-aged virgin. So where did he concept for his latest movie come from? It was was inspired in part by the young actor and a conversation the two had after the success of Virgin. "We were talking about writing something for him, and all of his ideas were giant science-fiction movies," Apatow recalls. "They were very high concept." The director writer remembers saying "Seth, you don’t need a big concept to be funny. In Virgin, you’re funny just standing there talking. You just need a situation that’s funny because you’re in it like you get a girl pregnant and it’s funny because it’s you. It seemed like Seth came out of the womb with his own comic identity. He’s a very viciously funny, biting, sardonic personality, but yet he is a sweet and good guy. That combination’s always fun for comedy." Apatow says he always thought, "That’s the kind of guy I’d like to see star in a movie." Almost as big a shock as finding you had 'knocked up' someone, was how the film got the nod from Universal Pictures. "Judd was deciding what to do after Virgin, and he was very elusive about it until, one day, when we had a meeting about another movie at Universal, he just pitched it," recalls Rogen. "I was sitting there, and he said, 'We want to do this movie "Knocked Up", where Seth gets a girl pregnant after a one night stand.' I couldn’t believe it." Apatow says "Knocked Up" is "a movie with the same evolving spirit of "The 40 Year Old Virgin" which is a filthy, dirty movie with a good heart. Basically, I try and make these movies with the thought that they’re about trying hard not to be an asshole." For Apatow and his fellow producer Shauna Robertson, finding the right actress to play the role of Alison wouldn't be easy. Until they auditioned Dr Isobel 'Izzie' Stevens" from Grays Anatomy". Katherine Heigl was just what they envisaged Alison to be. "Other people would read, and the whole premise felt sad. Great actresses would come in, and they would say 'I’m pregnant', and it made you want to cry. But Katherine came in, and she and Seth would go at each other hard, and it really made me laugh." Heigl says she took the part because "It’s not so far out there and ridiculous that it’s slapstick. Seth and Judd take the experiences that we have in our relationships with our friends, family and lovers, and exaggerate it just a bit." It seems Heigl made the perfect, formidable opponent for Rogen. "One of the problems is that I’m just like a big, loud dude. So, when you pair me up with a tiny little actress and have me scream at them, it becomes very unpleasant to watch. But with Katherine, it worked. She could yell a lot louder than even I can," he said. 'Virgin' fans will remember actress Leslie Mann. She played the French-toast craving, happy drunk Nicky. In "Knocked Up", Mann plays the more sober of the two sisters, Debbie. Working on the film was "a different type of moviemaking. It’s very loose and creative. The actors have a lot to say and do in the creative process." Paul Rudd, who plays he onscreen husband elaborated. "On other projects, you really have to memorize lines and rehearse scenes. I've forgotten how to do that because I’ve become so accustomed to the way Judd shoots things." Apatow concedes that his "directing style is fluid and lively. I liken it to writing a movie on its feet." Heigl’s initiation into Apatow’s particular working style came during her audition. "I had my lines and was ready to go," she states. "Basically, they tossed it all aside, and we didn’t even follow any of the dialogue. Thankfully, Seth is such an easy guy to bounce things off of. I spent a lot of my first audition for the movie just reacting to things he said, simply because I couldn’t think of anything fast enough." In the film Ben Stone’s best friends, Jonah, Jason, Jay and Martin are played by Rogen’s real best friends. Conveniently, the actors: Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel and Martin Star, share first names with their characters. "I don’t really have to do much," Apatow notes, " because if I just say, '‘Sit around and talk and give each other a hard time', I know they’ll do what they would really do. It’s a great, lazy writer/director move. And then I did something else that was really lazy." And what was that? "I didn’t even bother to change any of the guy's names, except Seth's." Rounding out the cast are Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow’s real-life children, Maude and Iris Apatow, who play Sadie and Charlotte, Pete and Debbie’s delightful little girls. They serve as a constant source of amusement and parental confusion to the harried Ben. In true comedic style Apatow says, "I had an instinct that they would be great, and they were. Now, I can never let them act again." Those who are smart enough to see "Knocked Up" will confirm even the soundtrack is different to the norm. Aptow approached folk music singer/poet Loudon Wainwright III to create the films soundtrack. Wainwright and his collaborator Joe Henry accepted the challenge and scored the songs for the film. "As writers, we aimed for complete songs first, and deconstructed them as resource for score when needed. When we had a song that matched the overall tone of the film or of a particular character, it was easy to tailor and develop an element of it, a verse or bridge, in service to a scene," says Henry. "I knew these guys would bring an unpredictable and emotional sound to the film," Apatow notes. "I’ve been a fan of Loudon’s since I was a kid, and I knew what he could do. I put him in "Undeclared", he was a priest in 'Virgin' and is Dr Howard, Ben and Alison’s OB-GYN, in "Knocked Up". Basically, I like the idea of exposing a new audience to the singer who had such a profound effect on me as a kid." "When Judd came to me with this idea, I was pretty curious," Wainwright says. "As a musician, you are usually telling your own stories, not helping to tell those of characters in a film. It’s a chance to do something different for me. And God knows, the crazy-ass decisions Ben makes remind me of a few of my own." While getting "Knocked Up" only required a one night stand for Heigl's character, making her pregnancy look real took a lot of expertise. Starting with a plaster cast of the front side of her torso, Academy ® and Emmy Award winning makeup effects artist Matthew Mungle sculpted three different molds. A three-month, a six-month and a nine-month belly, from which the foam latex appliances were made. The bellies created for Heigl were comprised of a hollow, which was filled with poly foam and painted with an opaque look before the fine details were added. "That’s where the artistry comes in," Mungle (whose work has appeared in films such as "Red Dragon", "Daredevil", "X-Men: The Last Stand" and "The Omen") explained, "when you paint it with the freckles and the veins and make it look realistic." Attention was paid to every detail to ensure that it all looked accurate, down to the progression of the belly button. While attaching and finishing the prosthetic took about fourty five minutes each day, the process was much simpler when scenes dictated that the belly stay under clothing. "They slap it on in fifteen minutes with hospital grade glue so it doesn’t move an inch," says Heigl. For the most part, Heigl was unbothered by the whole process, with one exception. "I had a scene in the bathtub with my nine-month belly, and it would fill up with water and then it would pull on my skin. It ripped my skin a little," she says wincing. "Other than that, I barely even noticed it." And as always, here's a juicy bit of trivia. During filming a day at Knott’s Berry Farm, a few of the cast vomited their way through a variety of rides. "It was disgusting and painful, but I got back on the roller coaster. I don’t know if I’m a trouper, but I think I’m a trouper. And Jay, who is horrified of roller coasters, even got on once and had a full-blown anxiety attack on film. That will provide me with entertainment for the rest of my life," says Rogen. And in case you're wondering, OB-GYN stands for obstretician gynecologist. Synopsis

Alison Scott, is an ambitious and beautiful young woman on the verge of becoming an on-air reporter for a major entertainment news network. Ben Stone, however is a directionless, ambitionless, everyday slcker, who lives with four friends in a twenty something bachelor’s extended adolescence: a dilapidated house complete with a makeshift boxing ring and mosquito-infested swimming pool. The friends have a shared ambition to support their lifestyle by creating a semi-pornographic celebrity web site, one that could make them quite wealthy when and if it ever launches. These two polar opposites meet in a bar, hit it off, drunkenly hook up and then next morning, go their separate ways. It's supposed to be the end of their story, until Ben finds that the phone call he gets from Alison several weeks later is not a request for a second date; it’s a call to tell him she’s going to have his baby. Now, Ben has some life-altering questions to ask of himself. Like will he run the other way or stick around to help raise the kid?

The Verdict "Judd Apatow's followup to "The Forty Year Old Virgin" is at times an absolute scream. No doubt there will be a few at every screening of "Knocked Up" who will truly be able to relate to the films title and, the mess Alison and Ben find themselves in. The humour in "Knocked Up" is far superior, more generous and has a much wider appeal than that of the popular 'Virgin'. It's take on quickie sex, the subsequent consequences and the decisions faced, are handled superbly. Both Heigl and Rogen give excellent performances in the lead roles. Wickely, madly funny. Very recommended. 4 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "KNOCKED UP" stars .......
Katherine Heigl ["Bride of Chucky", "The Ringer" and "Caffeine"]; Paul Rudd ["The 40 Year Old Virgin", "Night at the Museum" and "Reno 911!: Miami"]; Leslie Mann ["The Cable Guy", "She's the One", "Big Daddy" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin"]; Jason Segel ["Slackers", "The Good Humor Man" and "Bye Bye Benjamin"]; Harold Ramis ["Ghostbusters I & II", "Groundhog Day" and "As Good as It Gets"]; Jay Baruchel ["Who Gets the House?", "Almost Famous" and "The Rules of Attraction"] and Seth Rogen ["The 40 Year Old Virgin", "You, Me and Dupree" and "Shrek the Third"] as Ben Stone.
"KNOCKED UP" was .......
directed by Judd Apatow ["The 40 Year Old Virgin"]; screenplay by Judd Apatow ["Celtic Pride", "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Fun with Dick and Jane"]; art direction by Lauren E Polizzi ["The Lost World: Jurassic Park", "The Grinch" and "Be Cool"]; costume design by Debra McGuire ["Just Married", "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin"]; production design by Jefferson Sage ["Mississippi Masala", "Donnie Brasco", "Analyze This" and "The Bone Collector"]; casting by Allison Jones ["Deep Impact", "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Unaccompanied Minors"]; director of photography by Eric Edwards ["Even Cowgirls Get the Blues", "Cop Land", "Clay Pigeons" and "Crossroads"]. Who's Who?

Katherine Heigl Seth Rogen Paul Rudd Leslie Mann Jason Segel Jay Baruchel Jonah Hill Martin Starr Charlyne Yi Iris Apatow Maude Apatow Joanna Kerns Harold Ramis Alan Tudyk Kristen Wiig Bill Hader Ken Jeong Loudon Wainwright III Stephanie Mnookin Tim Bagley J.P. Manoux Adam Scott Mo Collins B.J. Novak

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Alison Scott Ben Stone Pete Debbie Jason Jay Jonah Martin Jodi Charlotte Sadie Alison’s Mom Ben's Dad Jack Jill Brent Dr Kuni Dr Howard Dr Howard’s Nurse Dr Pellagrino Dr Angelo Male Nurse Female Doctor Young Doctor

Run Time 129 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2007 - United Pictures International - All Rights Reserved ©2007 All Rights Reserved - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - Protected by Australian & International Copyright. Trademark Laws Apply.