This Is 40
By Sean Lynch
Judd Apatow has had a pretty good run. In the space of ten years he has not simply created a comedic genre of his very own, but he's single handedly directly or indirectly guided the course of Hollywood, and the worlds, comedic tastes. It's an all encompassing power not seen since Lorne Michaels and his early SNL team in the 70s and 80s (Belushi, Akroyd, Chase) had.
The only problem with such success is an eventual decrease in drive and therefore quality. The best comedy and creativity often comes from desperation, so what happens when you remove desperation from a comic and give them everything they've ever wanted or needed? This Is 40.
After a series of hits with gradually decreasing quality, Writer, director and producer Judd Apatow (who hit big with The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up) has fallen into the trap of "writing what you know" in an era of his life when "what he knows" is only relatable to less than 1% of the human population. This Is 40 is little more than an overlong, self indulgent, multi million dollar family home movie which never really finds a happy medium between that self indulgence and the type of broad comedy with which he's made his fortune.
It brings back the characters of Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann, Apatow's real life wife) from Knocked Up as we see first-hand how they are dealing with their current state of life.
So we follow them... in mundane detail... of their day to day life. No drama, no hijinx, just... life... boring, day to day, life.
The sad thing is, there is a decent movie hidden within the overblown two hour running time. There are some genuinely magnificent and hilarious scenes that, if edited into sequence, would make a broad comedy on par with Bridesmaids or Apatow's earlier work. But these genuine moments of comedic inspiration are littered throughout This Is 40's second film, a slow burning character drama.
The two styles simply do not mix and ultimately leaves you wishing he'd either chosen one style or the other and go at it wholeheartedly, as it stands the two polar opposite genres are jarring and off putting. Add to that the fact there's genuinely eight or nine story lines and you have to wonder if This Is 40 would be better served as a HBO TV series.
It's not all bad news however, there are some great performances from veterans like Albert Brooks and John Lithgow. But other than that, it's a whole lot of wasted cameos and talent (Jason Segel, Lena Dunham, Megan Fox etc) in favour of unnecessary screen time for Apatow's real life daughters.
Yes, like the annoying work mate at a Christmas party showing you photos of his family in his wallet, This Is 40 once again proves that no one is ever as interested in your own children as much as you are.
Conclusion: Movie 60% Extras: N/A
