REVIEW: KNOCKED UP

Like most of the recent wave of "couple comedies" it started out great, then hit a lull, and didn't really recover from the lull until the very end, which was fantastic, especially because you got McLovin in there.

"Couple Comedies", I guess is replacing the chick flick. As tempted as I was, and with all the preconceived notions I had of this flick, it's not a chick flick. "Couple Comedies" I guess are a new genre that has started, and we're going to have to deal with them whether we like them or not. For every good one like this, there's bound to be a romantic comedy with Suicide Machine Owen Wilson that a guy gets suckered into which is indeed a "Chick Flick".

The difference is this. In a "Chick Flick" all men are evil or stupid. For instance, in the best "Chick Flicks" of all time, (Thelma & Louise, League of their Own), all the guys in the movie are A-holes. Dang, even that little kid in League of Their Own was a punk. Men have no chance in those movies. In the "Couple Comedy" genre, there are moments where you say to yourself, "uh oh, this is getting girlie" but then you realize that women need to enjoy the movie to, and at the same time I'm sure they're saying, "uh oh, this is getting ______". This movie did a great job of balancing the two. In the Couple Comedies, men are portrayed as stupid still, but women are portrayed as crazy, so it's even. Maybe men are in fact stupid and women are in fact crazy, and this is just a case of art imitating life, who knows.

In fact, I think what stole this movie's momentum wasn't the inevitable couple fight, but it was that damn trip to Vegas. I think that's the first time in Cinema History that a Trip to Vegas was a bad idea. Maybe it was the mushrooms or whatever, but it was so cliche. That in fact, was the only time the movie really became a cliche, hence, sucking all the momentum out of it. Maybe my experience with mushrooms has caused me to reach panic mode even when I see them on television, I don't know, but that whole scene was uncomfortable, and definitely not funny. In contrast, when the two ladies go to the club for the "chick" scene, it was much better when the bouncer broke down the percentages of people that are allowed into the club. That's good writing.

Some of the "few line" characters were great too. The two little girls were awesome (I almost wish they were in it more), and the one girl who was in the meetings when the main girl was getting promoted was fantastic.

Finally, I have to compare this to Superbad because Superbad is basically the same movie, same actors and everything, except all the characters are still in high school, and the situations are alot different. There really wasn't any relationship crap in Superbad, which automatically makes it better, but that movie also lost momentum, as did the Simpsons Movie at a point, as did Borat at a point. None of those movies are "Couple Comedies" though, so

Borat got it back with Naked Man Wrestling
The Simpsons Movie was lucky enough to have Homer as a lead character
Superbad's script was really good, so even when it wasn't funny, you knew you were watching something good ... and that's kind of how Knocked Up was to me ... so

Script = A
Acting = A- (no one was stupid/annoying or anything)
Couple Comedy Factor = D
Momentum Loss = C-
Comedy = A
Characters = A

Overall B+. Most importantly, I felt great after I watched it.