THIS IS 40 (2012) Director: Judd Apatow Writer: Judd Apatow Cast: Paul Rudd; Leslie Man; Maude Apatow; Megan Fox; Jason Segel Married couple Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) are just about to turn forty. Their children hate each other, their businesses are failing, they’re on the verge of losing their house and, most worryingly, they’re starting to fall out of love with each other. Spin-off films are always an interesting prospect; to put faith in previously secondary characters can be quite risky, but the rewards are obviously great if it’s pulled off. Problem is, though, that they’ve never worked. And ‘This is 40’? Not even bloody close to working! For those that don’t know, the leads characters of Pete and Debbie are from ‘Knocked Up’, another movie I actually haven’t seen. I don’t know how good they are in that, but ‘This Is 40’ is just crap. It is boring, long, and full of unfunny characters that I don’t care about. I don’t care very much about the trials and tribulations that they and the family go through, because they’re all so unsympathetic and overbearing. It’s a shame too, because the cast is actually quite good. It’s a cavalcade of Apatow regulars, plus some seasoned comedy veterans. A lot of the movie’s scenes are improvised (as is the Apatow way), which is all well and good, but improvising rubbish characters is, well, rubbish. The one exception is Leslie Mann. Mrs Apatow is absolutely fantastic in this movie, really funny and a character that is easy to warm to. Her story is one that I found myself actually engaged in, but only just. Somehow, Paul Rudd has gone from an always likeable actor, to a really annoying one. Megan Fox is pretty awful, and don’t get me started on the kids (who are actually Apatow’s own kids). I’m always keen to see Judd Apatow films, because he does have the talent and potential to make very good and very funny films. This is neither very good nor very funny, though; it’s uninteresting and not worth the time. That’s right. I didn’t like it.
Posted on: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 21:20:41 +0000
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