Now In Theaters
By Sarah Carlson
June 1, 2007
For those of you sick of "Pirates" and "Spider-Man 3" hogging all the screens at your local theater, today's new, adult-targeted releases are a sight for sore eyes. Judd Apatow's "Knocked Up," the follow-up to his 2005 hit "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," will likely earn the most of the new releases, and it's already won the best reviews.
"It is sharp but not mean, sweet but not soft, and for all its rowdy obscenity it rarely feels coarse or crude. What it does feel is honest: about love, about sex, and above all about the built-in discrepancies between what men and women expect from each other and what they are likely to get." -- A.O. Scott, The New York Times
"No one writes for ensembles better than Apatow, and his players are all skilled at giving his work a loose, improvisational feel. That looseness again results in a comedy that stretches well past the two-hour mark, but that's part of the Apatow touch: He makes viewers want to hang out with his characters indefinitely." -- Scott Tobias, The Onion (A.V. Club)
An interesting take on the film, though, came from several woman critics who enjoyed the film but thought Apatow stacked the deck in favor of his male characters:
"I think what it boils down to is this: Apatow writes men with far more insight and acuity than he writes women. As a result, his portrait of contemporary gender relations is unbalanced: Crude and hilarious in Guyville, he seizes up when he gets to Ladyland and allows himself to take refuge in comfortable clichés." -- Dana Stevens, Slate
"But "Knocked Up" is so enamored of Ben and his insouciant charm that it fails to wonder what it must feel like for the girl. It's one thing to go with the idea that Ben and Alison dwell in different leagues, which after all is the point of the movie. It's another thing altogether for the heroine, who in true girl-on-pedestal form is beautiful, smart, successful, nice and pretty much cool with everything, never to get even the tiniest chance to wonder if maybe she might have done a little better." -- Carina Chocano, L.A. Times
Critics weren't as kind to the other openers, "Mr. Brooks," starring Kevin Costner as a serial killer, and "Gracie," an inspirational sports underdog flick about a girl soccer player on an all-boys team:
"Mr.Brooks"
"The film feels sleazy and nasty -- but without the pulp kick of filmmakers who know how to do sleazy and nasty." -- Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
"Gracie"
"Modestly engaging but thoroughly predictable." -- Joe Leydon, Variety
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