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I initially found myself at odds with Judd Apatow’s latest romantic comedy Knocked Up, though my final verdict is one of approval. Coming on the heels of his notable success, The 40 Year Old Virgin, his two most recent films, Superbad and Knocked Up, are remarkably similar in their tone to each other as both are harsher, brasher, and cruder films than Virgin. Yet all three films are companions in that whatever path they take to get there, they ultimately land the viewers in an unexpectedly heartwarming place. All three films also share Judd’s penchant for unexpectedly good writing, spot-on casting, and for his ability to balance a skillful act between humor and a more serious fabric of interpersonal relationships.

That being said, I think that Knocked Up is perhaps the weakest of this trio in that a few of the characters push the cardboard-caricature/stereotype humor a bit past the edge of believability and some of the basic story points seem to stretch believability a bit too thin without offering much explanation to ease the mind of the “But I wouldn’t have done that” viewer. Without giving away any earth shattering surprise, the story centers around un unplanned pregnancy of Alison Scott (played by the stunning and personable Katherine Heigl) after a drunken and spontaneous romp under the covers  with Ben Stone (expertly played by Seth Rogen). The chance encounter of two mis-matched partners in a moment of alcohol- induced intimacy is not hard to imagine. And it’s not hard to imagine that a young woman would choose to keep her baby, and it’s not hard to imagine that she might try to include the father in some meaningful way in the life of her child. But what is hard to understand is why the inexorably beautiful and gifted character of Alison determines that she needs to pursue and maintain a committed romantic relationship with deadbeat Ben. Such a device would have worked in a 1950s film where society demanded that couples wed after producing a child for the sake of honor no matter how bad the marriage match. But in 2007?

More than a “deadbeat”, Ben Stone is offensive, Rude, and apathetic in every way possible (from the point of view of the opposite sex, in any case). Of course, part of the comedic gag is built around the inevitable conflicts that ensue from the most unattractive/repulsive character forging a romantic alliance with the most beautiful… Beauty and The Beast if you will. But Judd’s film isn’t constructed like a nonsensical farce. On the contrary, the undercurrent of real issues in real relationships is the foundation of the drama and is what sets his film (and other films) apart from the crowd of fluff-comedies, and so the film at times feels in conflict with itself.

But despite this one weak point of “why would she want him???” the story is good, the acting superb, and some outstanding hold-your-breath moments of acting brilliance shine forth from the entire cast. In particular, Alison’s sister Debbie (played by Leslie Mann, Judd’s real-life wife) is reason enough to watch the movie. Leslie’s portrayal of Debbie as an A- personality who’s deeply riddled with insecurity about herself and her marriage is miraculous. I won’t give away the details as it would mitigate the moment if you haven’t already seen the film, but at one point during the film Debbie confronts her husband regarding an alleged infidelity, and her tearful reaction and heart- wrenching plea to be emotionally embraced by the husband that she continually badgers and puts down epitomizes a disturbingly common relationship phenomenon seldom discussed in film regardless of genre. Judd and Leslie’s two daughters also play a convincing role in the film’s cast and deserve to be commended.

And aside from all the laughs, the real beauty of Judd Apatow’s romantic comedies (if they can be labeled as such) is the warm, yet saccharine-free resolution that comes at the end. And in bringing about the resolution in Knocked Up, Judd also manages to make us realize just how wrong we might have been in first judging Ben Stone. And to follow along the lines of what one character has to say, we come to love Ben not by completely ridding him of all of his faults, but by recognizing his good for what it really is.
Here are Dan’s comments from his review of the earlier HD DVD release:

“I’m on the fence concerning this summer’s comedy hit, written and directed by Judd Apatow.  It’s well-written, has some snappy dialog, and is supported by an emotional foundation.  But so many of the principal characters are such immature fools, that I was left without anyone to identify with.  And the main character’s infantile behavior got in the way of the general premise.  But I get ahead of myself.

“For those of you who have been out of the country during 2007’s summer, the beautiful, blond, and busty Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) has just been given her shot at on-camera work at E!  She’s ecstatic, and with sister Debbie (Leslie Mann, Apatow's wife) in tow, they hit a club for drinks and dancing to celebrate.  They meet Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) and his friend Jason (Jason Segel).  Ben is fun and his jokes find a receptive audience in Alison; it’s either the liquor or her buoyant mood or both, but she does not yet realize that his boyish charms are boyish for all the wrong reasons.  One drink leads to another, and that leads to a semiconscious one night stand in her sister’s pool house where she resides.  But in the sober light of morning, as Alison looks down at the two hundred pound unshaven bloat, she mentally questions her own sanity.

“She polite, but essentially dismisses Ben, clearly determined to put the experience out of her mind forever more.  Alas, a slight misunderstanding about a condom has left Alison very pregnant.  So let’s summarize.  She’s now on- camera, interviewing stars and personalities for E!  She’s enjoying a bump in salary.  And her first priority is career.  Now she discovers that she’s pregnant by someone she finds repugnant.  What’s the girl to do?  Keep the baby and develop a relationship with the father, of course.

“Admittedly, we wouldn’t have much of a movie had she chosen not to keep it, so I’m forced to concede this questionable choice a necessary plot point.  And clearly, many women have so much respect for life that no other decision is possible.  But moving forward, the movie lost me.

“As Apatow develops his characters for the viewer, he invests much time with Ben and his housemates, getting high, talking trash, and fantasizing about an ambitious website project to reveal nudity in mainstream films.  They are slobs, immature, borderline irresponsible, sexually frustrated . . . archetypical losers.  Apatow also spends time developing Alison’s character.  She’s extremely smart, very responsible, highly organized, and very desirable.  So her decision to try to bring Ben into her life and attempt to have a relationship with the child-like father of her future child seems a bit of a stretch.  Perhaps what I found most disconcerting is Alison’s growing affection for Ben as they spent time together during her pregnancy, affection that he does not earn.  It takes him entirely too much time to step up to the plate and develop a little maturity, and she’s entirely too accepting.

“But Apatow knows that the odd couple and Ben as fish out of water (he’s not really accustomed to normal civilized values and behaviors) are ripe for comedy.  So is the film funny?  Many thought so; the film earned nearly $149 million at the domestic box office.  It even did okay in Russia.  But for this writer, it’s only mildly so.  The cast does a fine job of portraying their various archetypes.  But I found the best onscreen chemistry was not between Rogen and Heigl, it was between Rogen and Harold Ramis, who played Ben’s father.  Those scenes were witty, heartfelt, and without exaggeration.

“This film plays like a male fantasy.  An undesirable guy not only boinks the hot chick, but he gets a chance at a long term relationship with her.  And yet, there were a few laughs, and ultimately Ben does take a good look at himself and comes away as surprisingly perceptive.  So I can almost comfortably accept the outcome; I’m simply having a lot of trouble with the journey.”

The Video: How Do The Discs Look?

The 1080p 1.85:1 image is pleasing, and lacks any outright meddling artifacts that have plagued some other recent Universal releases such as edge-ringing. Color, contrast, and black-level all seem comfortably realistic, and the compression is clean and devoid of noise.  The color spectrum may deviate slightly from normal fleshtones but it seems to be for artistic reasons and suits the film. Sharpness is good though after tasting some other outstanding releases lately I thought that detail could have been slightly improved, though I haven’t seen the film source material to know if this transfer give an accurate impression of how they appear. All in all a good high definition picture and one that feels naturally film-like and not over-processed like some others (40 Year Old Virgin has been oversharpened and suffers as a result)

The Audio: How Do The Discs Sound?

Universal has been consistent in providing lossless audio for all releases, and even though the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack to Knocked Up isn’t the most demanding home theater content out there, the benefits of improved tonal naturalness and preserved acoustic decays versus lossy-audio can be enjoyed. While most of the film is dialogue driven, the musical score fills out the front soundstage nicely and the surrounds and frequency response get a nice workout during the opening “bar” scene. It’s pleasing to see all but one of the major studios consistently embracing lossless audio on Blu- ray Disc.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

As with the HD DVD (and DVD) release, all of the bonus material is presented in standard-defintion. However, unlike the HD DVD which had to omit some of the bonus material to fit everything onto the combo disc, this Blu-ray platter preserves everything that is already on the 2-disc DVD collection, allowing you to enjoy the high-definition format without sacrificing any special features.

First up is what Universal calls “U Control” which is that studio’s label for the bonus-view picture-in-picture feature. It amounts to a very nice video commentary, and one that any fan will no doubt enjoy with its screen-specific content and interesting PIP material. There’s also the option to listen to audio-only commentary for those without bonus-view hardware or if you’d like to listen without interrupting the visuals. There are a host of featurettes which I found to be extremely entertaining. Perhaps the most hilarious of the bunch was Finding Ben Stone (29 minutes) which follows a gag in trying to find the perfect actor for Ben Stone.  Similar in concdept is the 7 minute short Directing the Director and then another 6 minute short Gummy, The 6th Roommate which didn’t impress me as much. I don’t want to say much about these shorts because their humor is best executed on the viewer who has not been tipped off to the details of the gag. The short Roller Coaster Doc didn’t inspire me, but the featurette Loudon Wainwright III Scoring Sessions was an interesting tour behind the musical concepts that support the film. You’ll also find a disposable music video (to quote Dan Ramer’s HD DVD review) of “You Can’t Fail Me Now” by Loudon Wainwright. 

We’ve also got 12 minutes of Video Diaries which might entertain some folks, but most fans will be interested in the 25 minutes worth of deleted/extended scenes. Taking center stage next up are the Deleted and Extended scenes. Most of these scenes were trimmed from the feature film for obvious reasons, as was the content contained in the Topless Scene. The 38 minute Gag Reel material will please serious fans but will get tiresome for casual viewers. One thing that every viewer should take the time to check out is the brief (5 minutes) Audition Reel with Katherine Heigl’s during her original screening for the role.

Final Thoughts

Knocked Up continues Judd Apatow’s success as his third recent romantic comedy in the past few years. It’s a bit courser than 40 Year Old Virgin, and is probably on par with the crude-o-meter score of Superbad. But like both other films, it pulls its offenses together into a heartwarming resolution that doesn’t feel pandering or “Hollywood”. The video of this blu-ray disc is commendable, and is free from any processing artifacts such as edge-haloes. The lossless audio won’t shake the walls in your HT, but it does a nice job being transparent to the source master, and the wealth of bonus material only has the fault of not being presented in high definition resolution. If you enjoy Judd’s sense of humor, you’ll enjoy Knocked Up on Blu-ray Disc.