Movies: Knocked Up

Tuesdays are free popcorn days at our local Regal Cinemas. While in the school year I usually go with a couple friends when I have the time, the summer semester and a sweltering, empty afternoon led me to hit the local multiplex by myself. The latest confection? Knocked Up.

The movie's been getting good reviews from the critics, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad. From Judd Apatow, director of "The 40 Year-Old Virgin" (which I liked but not as much as I was supposed to), "Knocked Up" is a story about a one night stand between Alison and Ben (beauty and the geek) that turns into a 9-month stretch. It's less a straight comedy and more of a romantic comedy, which surprised me a bit. It's also rated R, which basically leads to a whole lot of unnecessary and unfunny swearing (but that's a whole 'nother blog post).

As usual, the cadre of supporting actors steals the movie right out from under the leads. Ben's buddies are hilarious if you catch all their pop-culture references - everything from "Total Recall" to "Murderball" to Richard Reid. Leslie Mann, who is a comedy veteran and also the director's wife in real life, turns in a pretty memorable role as Alison's sister. She does get a bit shrieky sometimes, but this is sort of a hyperreal comedy.

The movie does lose some steam in the second act, and, as most every review points out, it's overlong and could have used some editing to bring it back down to two hours. The classic rom-com device of the late second act split between the protagonist couple doesn't work very well here - Alison and Ben's inevitable fight feels forced and out of tune with the rest of the movie. And aside from the colorful supporting cast, the movie doesn't have enough big laughs. The greatest comedies - the Caddyshacks, the Blazing Saddles - have comedians in the leads for a reason.

Rating: 7/10 (barely)