THIS IS 40 Review

Judd Apatow needs to learn to not be afraid of the editing room. Like his "Funny People," his latest personal project is a loose, meandering, messy and bit of an amorphous blob of a comedy. But it's also searing in its honest look at married life, dealing with parents, raising kids, getting older and maintaining a companionship that lasts. And if it takes his sloppy, imperfect style -- rolling, spontaneous, free-flowing improvisational riffs and scenes that sometimes are directionless -- to present us these truths he seeks, then so be it. It's worth it, and "This Is 40" is worth it. No other tighter Hollywood comedies today could squeeze so much out of its characters and show audiences what it's really like and take the risk of swapping out laughs for realness.

I was uncomfortable at first with how much a comedy was making me squirm. There are a lot of fights, a lot of arguments, and I thought to myself, "Well, this isn't very funny." But that's what makes Apatow brave as a filmmaker. He started back with 2007's "Knocked Up" re-envisioning what a comedy could do. He created his own sub-genre of comedy that was mimicked for years; that is until "Bridesmaids" set another new standard. And with this sort-of sequel to "Knocked Up," Apatow has done it again. He's given us a comedy that makes us look at the harsher realities of married life, of hitting that over-the-hill. It's not always pretty, that's for sure, with a lot of the gross-out comedy actually coming from droll everyday moments like having Pete (Paul Rudd) thrusting his legs in the air and wanting Debbie (Leslie Mann) to check for hemorrhoids.

Pete and Debbie we supporting characters, and we saw their marriage was less than perfect. Now, at the center, their marriage is dead in the water. They attempt to explain and negotiate to each other in therapy terms as their counseling has taught them, but they still sound like they want to kill each other. Pete's form of escape is hiding away in the bathroom sitting on the toilet to play Scrabble on his tablet. Debbie becomes obsessed with trying to make changes to the family dynamic: more healthy eating, and less Internet for the kids (played by Apatow and Mann's real life daughters, Maude and Iris get plenty of fun material to play with -- best is the older daughter's obsession with finding out how "Lost" ends).

While trying to be the best parents they can, Pete and Debbie have parent troubles of their own. Pete's dad, Larry (Albert Brooks), is too present in his life always asking for money to help support his younger wife and blonde triplet boys he can't tell apart. Brooks is a comedic cannon and scene-stealer in the fatherly role. Debbie's dad, Oliver (John Lithgow), is on the other end of the spectrum -- not present at all to the point of meeting his granddaughters for the first time. All of their drama comes to a head at a birthday bash where Apatow's loose narrative really packs its punch.

Aside from that, however, the crux of Pete and Debbie's issues stem from their financial problems. But they also live in the likes of Brentwood, Calif. which means they're actually still pretty well-off. It's hard to pity them when you're listening about Debbie's thrift store not breaking even as her hot employee played by Megan Fox might be stealing, or watching as Pete's record label flounders because he's signing has-been groups like Graham Parker (who plays a version of himself in the movie). Aside from the welcomed addition of "Girls" players Lena Dunham and Chris O'Dowd as employees of Pete's, this side of the movie -- which unfortunately takes up a large portion -- just feels like the grumbling of rich people problems.

The laughs are mostly hit-or-miss from all the movie's improvising, but one moment where Pete and Debbie get tangled in the politics of their daughters' school is an absolute knock-out from Melissa McCarthy. She plays a disgruntled mother, Catherine, who has an outrageous, mean-spirited, curse-filled tirade to why Pete and Debbie are horrible people; that is, however, after Debbie just got done unnecessarily yelling at Catherine's son in a moment of parental protection and vulnerability that perfectly captures Mann's character. She's the acting stand-out as a woman, wife and mother who's aggravating, kind, brash, sexy and insecure all in one, and she makes her Debbie breathable, living and oh so true.

Archive: "Knocked Up" (2007)

The guy who brought us "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" is back again, this time tackling pregnancy. Writer-director Judd Apatow is the master of comedy with his latest outing, "Knocked Up," a nearly flawless movie that even surpasses Apatow's previous work. With the same mix of sentimentality and raunchiness, we are given an era-defining comedy that is current, genuine, and downright hilarious. It's really something you have to see to believe. This is hands-down the best comedy of the year, and also one of the best movies of the year.

The premise is simple: A shlub hooks up with a successful woman in a bar, they have some drunken sex, the woman gets pregnant, and the shlub does the best he can to help out. This slacker is a guy named Ben (Seth Rogen) who is unemployed, sits around with his stoner buddies, smokes pot, and really has no intention of doing much else. The woman is a career-oriented beauty named Alison (Katherine Heigl) who just got a big promotion at her interviewing job at the E! studio. To celebrate, she goes to a bar and that's when the hook-up happens. Ben and Alison have their little fling, have an awkward conversation over breakfast the next morning, and never really hear from each other again. That is, until eight weeks later.

What's so darling is that these two are not right for each other in every sense. And yet, their growing relationship has a sincere sweetness to it that is undeniable. They are not romantic and are not living some planned-out life together, and you can see the ending to their story from the start, but every single scene getting there is worth it. A sex scene, for example, where Ben nearly faints because he can't stand the idea that his penis might be poking the baby in the face is gut-bustingly hilarious and ridiculous.

Seth Rogen--who acted alongside Steve Carell in "Virgin"--lights up the screen with his infectious down-to-earth demeanor. He cracks crude one-liners like they're nothing, and he's fresh, funny, good-spirited, and self-deprecating. Katherine Heigl from "Grey's Anatomy" is just as lovely here, bringing the same widespread emotions she presents on television. She's hormonal, enraged, and also sympathetic and kind. The two of these actors together makes for great chemistry.

Throughout the movie, we also get quality doses of Alison's married sister, Debbie (Leslie Mann), and her restless husband, Pete (Paul Rudd). Here are two other actors with spot-on comic timing. Their characters in the movie don't exactly provide something for Alison and Ben to necessarily look up to. Their marriage is, as Pete describes, an unfunny version of "Everybody Loves Raymond" that lasts forever, and it provides an example of the behavioral observation that Apatow uses as his comedic fodder. There are lengthy scenes of not only them, but also Ben and Alison, simply arguing with each other. It feels real and like actual arguments because neither side really wins; that's life. The F-word goes flying every other word, and it's totally acceptable because it's used tastefully even in excess. Apatow's trademark mix of the profane and the sentimental is what makes all of the characters, even all of Ben's slacker buddies, feel like real people.

So yeah, Judd Apatow really knows what's up. He knows how to make it feel real, current, and knows how to deliver the laughs. There are even numerous cameos including one from E!'s very own Ryan Seacrest, who dishes out a hysterical tyrant with words you thought you would never hear him say. Many other pop culture references are abound, too, including humorous references to "Spider-Man 3," and even a bash at "Lost"'s Matthew Fox where Ben says something about him we've all already been thinking.

There are boobs, there are the geeks who love the boobs, but there are also the owners of the boobs who have a cry together and try to get into clubs. And then there are the pregnancy tests, the gynecologists, the baby books, and, yes, even a crowning shot. It's all there and accounted for, and somehow ingeniously blended together into one perfect comedy gem. It's in this way that I guess you could call this a romantic comedy for both sexes. It's raunchy enough for the guys and also heartwarming enough for the ladies. But, that's like calling this just one great date movie, and that's not all what "Knocked Up" is. It's a comedy for everyone and a movie about life and the crap life can toss at us and how to deal with the crap and grow from it, and learn from it, and simply mature as adults the very best anybody can.

It's this stuff that makes "Knocked Up" such a breath of fresh air. It's a comedy with a big heart that's in the right place, and it always knows when to be profane and when to be sweet. Everything here is delivered with such sincerity and cheer that you can't help but smile and, of course, laugh your ass off the entire time. It is great fun, it made me happy, and I loved every minute of it.