Knocked Up | |
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Directed by | Judd Apatow |
Written by | Judd Apatow |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Eric Edwards |
Edited by | |
Music by | |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 129 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $25 million [2] |
Box office | $219.9 million [2] |
Knocked Up is a 2007 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Judd Apatow, and starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, and Leslie Mann. It follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between a slacker and a recently promoted media personality that results in an unintended pregnancy.
The film was released on June 1, 2007, to box office success, grossing $219 million worldwide, and acclaim from critics. This Is 40 , a "sort-of sequel" focused on Rudd's and Mann's characters with Apatow returning as writer/director, was released on December 21, 2012.
Ambitious Los Angeles reporter Alison Scott has just been given an on-air role with E! and lives in the guest house of her sister Debbie's family. Ben Stone is an immature and wise-cracking Canadian slacker who lives off injury compensation funds and sparsely works on a celebrity porn website with his stoner roommates. While celebrating her promotion, Alison meets Ben at a local nightclub. After a night of heavy drinking, Ben and Alison have a one-night stand and due to a miscommunication, Ben does not wear a condom. The following morning, they learn over breakfast that they have nothing in common so they go their separate ways, leaving Ben visibly upset.
Eight weeks later, when Alison experiences morning sickness while interviewing James Franco, she realizes she could be pregnant. After taking multiple pregnancy tests, she is shocked to find out she is pregnant. She contacts Ben for the first time since their one-night stand to tell him. Although abrasive at first, he says he will support her. Although he is still unsure about being a parent, his father is overjoyed. Alison's mother tries to persuade her to have an abortion, but she decides to keep the child.
Later, Alison and Ben decide to give the relationship a chance. The couple's efforts include Ben making a marriage proposal with an empty ring box, promising to get her a ring someday. Alison thinks it is too early to think about marriage, as she is more concerned with hiding the pregnancy from her bosses, fearing they will fire her if they find out. After a positive beginning, tempers flare in the relationship.
Alison is increasingly worried about Ben's lack of support and understanding, and has doubts about their relationship's longevity. These thoughts are due to her sister's loveless marriage. Debbie's husband, Pete, works as a talent scout for rock bands, but leaves at strange hours in the night, making her suspect he is having an affair. Upon investigating, she learns that he is actually part of a fantasy baseball draft, and that he has been doing other activities such as going to the movies on his own, which he explains he does to be free from Debbie's manipulative manner.
As a result, they separate, and when Ben expresses pride in Pete's deception, it leads to an argument with Alison as they drive to her doctor. Furious, she ejects him from her car, abandoning him in the middle of a busy street. He tracks her down at her appointment and they have another argument, leading to their breakup.
Ben and Pete go on a road trip to Las Vegas. Under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms, they realize their loss and decide to try and save their relationships. Simultaneously, Debbie drags a nervous Alison out partying with her, but they are refused admission to a nightclub by its sympathetic bouncer on account of Debbie's age and Alison's pregnancy; leading to Debbie's tearful laments about her life and her desire to have Pete back. They reconcile at their daughter's birthday party, but when Ben tries to work things out with Alison, she refuses to get back together. Alison's boss finds out about her pregnancy and sees an opportunity to boost ratings with female viewers by having her interview pregnant celebrities. After a talk with his father, Ben decides to take responsibility and goes to great effort to mature, including obtaining his own apartment, getting an office job as a web designer, and reading pregnancy books.
When Alison goes into labor and is unable to contact her doctor, she calls Ben, as Debbie and Pete are out of town. He discovers that Alison's gynecologist is at a Bar Mitzvah despite having assured them that he never took vacations and Ben leaves him an abusive voicemail. During labor, Alison apologizes for questioning Ben's priorities. When Debbie and Pete arrive at the hospital, Ben refuses to allow Debbie to be at Alison's side, insisting that it is his place. Debbie is both incredulous and thankful that he took charge of the situation and begins to change her formerly negative opinion of him. The couple welcomes a baby girl (a boy in the alternate ending) and start a new life together.
Several of the major cast members return from previous Judd Apatow projects: Seth Rogen, Martin Starr, Jason Segel, and James Franco all starred in the television series Freaks and Geeks which Apatow produced. From the Apatow-created Undeclared (which also featured Rogen, Segel and Starr) there are Jay Baruchel and Loudon Wainwright III. Paul Feig, who co-created Freaks and Geeks , starred in the Apatow-written movie Heavyweights and directed the Apatow-produced Bridesmaids also makes a brief cameo as the Fantasy Baseball Guy. Steve Carell, who makes a cameo appearance as himself, played the main role in Apatow's The 40-Year-Old Virgin which also starred Rogen and Rudd, as well as appearing in the Apatow-produced Anchorman . Finally, Leslie Mann, who also appeared in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Freaks and Geeks, is married to Apatow and their two daughters play her children in the movie.
Anne Hathaway was originally cast in the role of Alison in the film, but dropped out due to creative reasons [3] that Apatow attributed to Hathaway's disagreement with plans to use real footage of a woman giving birth. [4] Jennifer Love Hewitt and Kate Bosworth auditioned for the part after Hathaway dropped out, but ended up losing out to Katherine Heigl. Christina Aguilera was a contender for the main role but decided to turn it down because she was promoting her album Back to Basics at the time. [5] [6]
The closing credits roll over cast members' baby photos. The image of Joanna Kerns as a young mother was previously famous from its use in opening credits of Growing Pains' first few seasons.
Bennett Miller, the director of Capote , appears in a mockumentary DVD feature called "Directing the Director", in which he is allegedly hired by the studio to supervise Apatow's work, but only interferes with it, eventually leading the two into a fist fight.
The film opened at No. 2 at the U.S. box office, grossing $30,690,990 in its opening weekend, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 's second weekend. The film grossed $148,768,917 domestically and $70,307,601 in foreign territories, totalling $219,076,518. The film also spent eight weeks in the box office top ten, the longest streak amongst May–June openers in 2007. [7] A company that specializes in tracking responses to advertising spanning multiple types of media attributed the film's unexpected financial success to the use of radio and television ads in combination. [8]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 89%, based on 252 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Knocked Up is a hilarious, poignant and refreshing look at the rigors of courtship and child-rearing, with a sometimes raunchy, yet savvy script that is ably acted and directed." [9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 85 out of 100, based on reviews from 38 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [10] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. [11]
The Los Angeles Times praised the film's humor despite its plot inconsistencies, noting that, "probably because the central story doesn't quite gel, it's the loony, incidental throwaway moments that really make an impression." [12] Chris Kaltenbach of The Baltimore Sun acknowledged the comic value of the film in spite of its shortcomings, saying, "Yes, the story line meanders and too many scenes drone on; Knocked Up is in serious need of a good editor. But the laughs are plentiful, and it's the rare movie these days where one doesn't feel guilty about finding the whole thing funny." [13]
Variety magazine, while calling the film predictable, said that Knocked Up was "explosively funny." [14] On the television show Ebert & Roeper , Richard Roeper and guest critic David Edelstein gave Knocked Up a "two big thumbs up" rating, with Roeper calling it "likeable and real," noting that although "at times things drag a little bit.... still Knocked Up earns its sentimental moments." [15]
A more critical review in Time magazine noted that, although a typical Hollywood-style comedic farce, the unexpected short-term success of the film may be more attributable to a sociological phenomenon rather than the quality or uniqueness of the film per se, positing that the movie's shock value, sexual humor and historically taboo themes may have created a brief nationwide discussion in which movie-goers would see the film "so they can join the debate, if only to say it wasn't that good." [16]
This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience.(July 2023) |
Mike White (longtime associate of Judd Apatow and screenwriter for School of Rock , Freaks and Geeks , Orange County , and Nacho Libre ) is said to have been "disenchanted" by Apatow's later films, "objecting to the treatment of women and gay men in Apatow's recent movies", saying of Knocked Up, "At some point it starts feeling like comedy of the bullies, rather than the bullied." [17]
In early reviews, both Slate 's Dana Stevens and the Los Angeles Times ' Carina Chocano wrote articles claiming the film propagated sexist attitudes, a topic which was the primary focus of a Slate magazine podcast in which New York editor Emily Nussbaum said: "Alison [Heigl's character] made basically zero sense. She was just a completely inconsistent character.... she was this pleasant, blandly hot, peculiarly tolerant, yet oddly blank nice girl. She seemed to have no actual needs or desires of her own...." [18] A. O. Scott of The New York Times explicitly compared Knocked Up to Juno , calling the latter a "feminist, girl-powered rejoinder and complement to Knocked Up." [19]
In a later Vanity Fair interview, lead actress Katherine Heigl admitted that though she enjoyed working with Apatow and Rogen, she had a hard time enjoying the film itself, calling it "a little sexist" and claiming that the film "paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys." [20] [21] [22]
In response, Apatow did not deny the validity of her accusations, saying, "I'm just shocked she [Heigl] used the word shrew. I mean, what is this, the 1600s?" [23] Apatow also said that the characters in the film Knocked Up "are sexist at times... but it's really about immature people who are afraid of women and relationships and learn to grow up." [24]
Heigl's comments spurred widespread reaction in the media, including a Huffington Post article in which she was labeled "an assertive, impatient go-getter who quickly tired of waiting for her boyfriend to propose". [25] [26] Heigl clarified her initial comments to People magazine, stating that, "My motive was to encourage other women like myself to not take that element of the movie too seriously and to remember that it's a broad comedy," adding that, "Although I stand behind my opinion, I'm disheartened that it has become the focus of my experience with the movie." [27]
Meghan O'Rourke of Slate called Heigl's comments unsurprising, noting "Knocked Up was, as David Denby put it in The New Yorker , the culminating artifact in what had become 'the dominant romantic-comedy trend of the past several years—the slovenly hipster and the female straight arrow.'" [28] The Guardian noted that Heigl's comments "provoked quite a backlash, and Heigl was described as ungrateful and a traitor". [29] In the wake of mounting accusations of sexism, director Judd Apatow discussed ways he might develop more authentic female characters. [30]
In July 2009, while promoting their film Funny People Apatow and Rogen appeared on The Howard Stern Show and defended the work in Knocked Up, disagreeing with the position Heigl had stated. Rogen pointed to Heigl's work in the film The Ugly Truth to illustrate his point. Rogen said: "I hear there's a scene where she's wearing underwear with a vibrator in it, so I'd have to see if that is uplifting for women." Apatow remarked on Heigl's criticisms, stating that he had expected an apology from Heigl. "You would think at some point I'd get a call saying she was sorry, that she was tired, and then the call never comes." [31]
In August 2016, Rogen again spoke to Howard Stern about how he had felt hurt and somewhat betrayed back then by Heigl's comments. He went on to talk about what a great rapport they'd had on set while working together, and that at the time he had even envisioned making many more movies with her. Though Rogen wishes she would have apologized to him personally as opposed to publicly, he affirmed that he still really liked her, and that he never would have wanted the incident to hurt her career. [32]
Heigl responded by saying that Rogen had "handled that so beautifully," and that she felt nothing but "love and respect" for him. "It was so long ago at this point, I just wish him so much goodness, and I felt that from him, too," she said. [33]
Canadian author Rebecca Eckler wrote in Maclean's magazine about the similarities between the movie and her book, Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-Be, which was released in the U.S. in March 2005. She pursued legal action against Apatow and Universal Pictures on the basis of copyright infringement. [34] [35] In a public statement, Apatow said, "Anyone who reads the book and sees the movie will instantly know that they are two very different stories about a common experience." [36]
Another Canadian author, Patricia Pearson, also publicly claimed similarities between the film and her novel, Playing House. She declined to sue and declared Eckler's lawsuit to be frivolous. [37]
The film made the top-ten list of the jury for the 2007 AFI Awards as well as the top-ten lists of several well-known critics, with the AFI jury calling it the "funniest, freshest comedy of this generation" and a film that "stretches the boundaries of romantic comedies." John Newman, respected film critic for the Boston Bubble, called the film "a better, raunchy, modern version of Some Like it Hot." [38]
Early on the film was deemed the best reviewed wide release of 2007 by the Rotten Tomatoes' website. [39]
The film appeared on many critics' top-ten lists of the best films of 2007. [40]
On December 16, 2007, the film was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the ten best movies of the year. It was one of the two pregnancy comedies on the list ( Juno being the other). E! News praised the film's success with the AFI, saying that, "The unplanned pregnancy comedy, shut out of the Golden Globes and passed over by the L.A. and New York critics, was one of 10 films selected Sunday for the American Film Institute's year-end honors." [43]
Strange Weirdos: Music From and Inspired by the Film Knocked Up , an original soundtrack album, was composed for the film by folk singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III and Joe Henry. However, the movie's lead song "Daughter" was written by Peter Blegvad.
In addition to Wainwright's tracks, there were approximately 40 songs featured in the motion picture that were not included on the official soundtrack on Concord Records. [45]
Some of the songs featured in Knocked Up are:
Several separate Region 1 DVD versions were released on September 25, 2007. The theatrical R-rated version (128 minutes), an "Unrated and Unprotected" version (133 minutes) (separate fullscreen and widescreen editions available), a two-disc "Extended and Unrated" collector's edition, and an HD DVD "Unrated and Unprotected" version. On November 7, 2008, Knocked Up was released on Blu-ray following the discontinuation of HD DVD, along with other Apatow comedies The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Forgetting Sarah Marshall .
Variety reported in January 2011 that Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann would reprise their Knocked Up roles for a new film written and directed by Apatow, titled This Is 40 . [46] Apatow had stated that it would not be a sequel or prequel to Knocked Up, but a spin-off, focusing on Pete and Debbie, the couple played by Rudd and Mann. [47] The film was shot in the summer of 2011, [47] and was released on December 21, 2012. [48]
In March 2022, Apatow was announced to be in early development of writing a third film, set 10 years after This Is 40 and titled This is 50. [49]
Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor and comedian. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in July 2015, and was included on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2019. In 2021, he was named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive".
Leslie Jean Mann is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, including The Cable Guy (1996), George of the Jungle (1997), Big Daddy (1999), Knocked Up (2007), 17 Again (2009), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014), Blockers (2018), and Croods: A New Age (2020).
Seth Aaron Rogen is a Canadian actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series Freaks and Geeks in 1999, and got a part on Apatow's sitcom Undeclared in 2001, which also hired him as a writer. Rogen landed a job as a staff writer on the final season of Da Ali G Show (2004), for which the writing team was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. Apatow subsequently guided him toward a film career.
Judd Apatow is an American director, producer and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Trainwreck (2015), The King of Staten Island (2020), and The Bubble (2022).
Jonathan Adam Saunders Baruchel is a Canadian actor. He is known for his voice role as Hiccup Haddock in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, and for his roles in comedy movies such as Knocked Up (2007), Tropic Thunder (2008), Fanboys (2009), She's Out of My League (2010), Goon (2011), This Is the End (2013), and the action-fantasy film The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010). He had lead roles as Steven Karp in Judd Apatow's comedy series Undeclared (2001–2002) and Josh Greenberg in the FXX comedy series Man Seeking Woman (2015–2017).
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Judd Apatow, who produced the film with Clayton Townsend and Shauna Robertson. It features Steve Carell as the titular 40-year-old virgin Andy, an employee at an electronics store. Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, and Seth Rogen play co-workers who resolve to help him lose his virginity, and Catherine Keener stars as Andy's love interest, Trish.
Martin Schienle, known professionally as Martin Starr, is an American actor. He is known for the television roles of Bill Haverchuck on the short-lived comedy drama Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000), Roman DeBeers on the comedy series Party Down, Bertram Gilfoyle on the HBO series Silicon Valley (2014–2019), for his film roles in Knocked Up (2007) and Adventureland (2009), and as Roger Harrington in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films The Incredible Hulk (2008), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
The Frat Pack is a nickname given to a group of American comedy actors who have appeared together in many of the highest-grossing comedy films since the mid-1990s. The group is usually considered to include Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Jack Black, and Vince Vaughn.
Barry Mendel is an American film producer. Mendel first produced Wes Anderson’s Rushmore starring Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray, which won two Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor. This was followed by The Sixth Sense, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, which was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. Subsequently, he produced Shyamalan's follow-up, Unbreakable, then went back to work with Anderson on The Royal Tenenbaums, which was Oscar-nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Their collaboration continued on The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which Mendel followed by producing Joss Whedon’s feature film directorial debut, Serenity. Mendel next conceived, developed and produced Munich, directed by Steven Spielberg, which was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture. He then produced Whip It, Drew Barrymore’s debut as a feature director, which starred Elliot Page and Kristen Wiig. Mendel produced another film with Page, Peacock, which co-starred Cillian Murphy and Susan Sarandon.
Jonah Hill is an American actor. He is known for his comedic roles in films including The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Superbad (2007), Knocked Up (2007), Get Him to the Greek (2010), 21 Jump Street (2012), This Is the End (2013), and 22 Jump Street (2014). For his performances in Moneyball (2011) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He is also known for his roles in Cyrus (2010), War Dogs (2016), Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018), and Don't Look Up (2021).
Superbad is a 2007 American coming-of-age teen buddy comedy film directed by Greg Mottola, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and produced by Judd Apatow. It stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as Seth and Evan, two teenagers about to graduate from high school. Before graduating, the boys want to party and lose their virginity, but their plan proves harder than expected.
Pineapple Express is a 2008 American buddy stoner action comedy film directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and starring Rogen and James Franco. The plot centers on a process server and his marijuana dealer as they are forced to flee from hitmen and a corrupt police officer after witnessing them commit a murder. Producer Judd Apatow, who previously worked with Rogen and Goldberg on Knocked Up and Superbad, assisted in developing the story.
Funny People is a 2009 American black comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow, co-produced by Apatow Productions and Madison 23 Productions, and starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann with Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman in supporting roles. The film follows a famous comedian who is diagnosed with a terminal disease and tries to fix the relationships in his life while befriending an aspiring comedian.
Katherine Heigl is an American actress. She played Izzie Stevens on the ABC television medical drama Grey's Anatomy from 2005 to 2010, a role that brought her recognition and accolades, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2007.
Bridesmaids is a 2011 American comedy film directed by Paul Feig from a screenplay by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, and produced by Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel and Clayton Townsend. It stars Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, and Chris O'Dowd. The film focuses on a woman who experiences a series of misfortunes after being asked to serve as maid of honor for her best friend.
This Is 40 is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow and starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. A "sort-of sequel" to Apatow's 2007 film Knocked Up, the movie centers on married couple Pete (Rudd) and Debbie (Mann), characters introduced in the previous film, whose stressful relationship is compounded by each turning 40. John Lithgow, Megan Fox, and Albert Brooks appear in supporting roles.
Maude Annabelle Apatow is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Lexi Howard in the HBO drama series Euphoria (2019–present).
Trainwreck is a 2015 American romantic sex comedy film directed and co-produced by Judd Apatow and written by and starring Amy Schumer along with an ensemble supporting cast that includes Bill Hader, Brie Larson, Colin Quinn, John Cena, Vanessa Bayer, Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller, Mike Birbiglia, Norman Lloyd, and NBA legend LeBron James. The film is about a hard-drinking, promiscuous, free-spirited young magazine writer named Amy Townsend (Schumer) who has her first serious relationship with a prominent orthopedic surgeon named Aaron Conners (Hader). The film received positive reviews from critics, praising the performances of Schumer, Hader, James, and the screenplay.
Paul Rudd is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. His career began in 1992 when he played a recurring role in the television series Sisters until 1995. In 1995, he made his film debut opposite Alicia Silverstone in the cult film Clueless, and starred as Tommy Doyle in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. The following year, he played Dave Paris in Baz Luhrmann's romantic drama Romeo + Juliet. He co-starred in the ensemble comedy film Wet Hot American Summer (2001), and had further comedic roles in Role Models (2008) with Seann William Scott and I Love You, Man (2009) with Jason Segel.
The King of Staten Island is a 2020 American comedy-drama film directed by Judd Apatow, from a screenplay by Apatow, Pete Davidson, and Dave Sirus. It stars Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Bel Powley, Maude Apatow, and Steve Buscemi, and follows a young man who must get his life together after his mother starts dating a new man who, like his deceased father, is a firefighter.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Among last year's May and June openers, only "Knocked Up" lasted in the top 10 for eight weeks