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Knocked Up

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Knocked Up
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJudd Apatow
Written byJudd Apatow
Produced byJudd Apatow
Shauna Robertson
Clayton Townsend
Seth Rogen
Evan Goldberg
StarringSeth Rogen
Katherine Heigl
Paul Rudd
Music byLoudon Wainwright III
Joe Henry
Distributed byUniversal Studios
Release dates
June 1, 2007
Running time
129 min. (rated)
133 min. (unrated)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[1]
Box office$148,597,000

Knocked Up is a 2007 American comedy film written and directed by Judd Apatow. It stars Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann.

Plot

File:Rogenheigl knockedup.jpg
Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen in Knocked Up

Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) is a 23-year-old slacker, whereas slightly older Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is responsible and career-minded. One night, Alison and Ben meet at a club and have sex. Due to a misunderstanding they do not use contraception: Alison uses the phrase "just do it" to ask Ben to wear a condom, while Ben misinterprets it as "a condom is not needed". When the alcohol wears off, they quickly learn they have little in common. Eight weeks later, however, Alison discovers that she is pregnant and contacts Ben, who says he will be there to support Alison having the baby. The odd couple's efforts to develop a relationship include a marriage proposal from Ben.

After considerable success, tensions surface in the relationship. Alison is increasingly anxious over both Ben's lack of responsibility and from watching her sister's failing marriage, and Ben feels that Alison is overly controlling, as a result of which the couple separates. Ben and Alison's sister's estranged husband Pete then take a road-trip to Las Vegas. Under the influence of drugs they realize their loss and decide to return and take responsibility. Ben goes to great effort to change his ways including getting a job and an apartment with a baby's room. Subsequently, Alison goes into labor and is not able to contact her doctor but contacts Ben who takes her to the hospital. The two reconcile and welcome the birth of a daughter, and settle down happily together.

Cast

Production

Casting

A good portion of the cast members are returning actors from previous Judd Apatow projects. Seth Rogen, Martin Starr, Jason Segel and James Franco all starred in the short-lived, cult television series Freaks and Geeks which Apatow produced. Rogen and Segel would also later star in the Apatow-created Undeclared with Jay Baruchel and Loudon Wainwright III. Paul Feig, who co-created Freaks and Geeks and starred in the Apatow written movie Heavy Weights, also makes a brief cameo as the Fantasy Baseball Guy. Steve Carell, who makes a cameo appearance, co-starred alongside Rogen and Rudd in Apatow's The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Finally, Leslie Mann, who also appeared in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, is married to Apatow.

Anne Hathaway was originally cast as "Alison Scott" in the film, but dropped out due to creative reasons.[2] Apatow wrote that "Hathaway dropped out of the film because she didn't want to allow us to use real footage of a woman giving birth to create the illusion that she is giving birth."[3] Jennifer Love Hewitt and Kate Bosworth auditioned for the part after Hathaway dropped out but ended up losing to Katherine Heigl.[4]

This movie was originally going to be a follow up to The 40-Year-Old Virgin, having Seth Rogen and his team to reprise their roles as the Smart Tech team.

Product placement

In the film, one of the main characters is employed by a web design agency called Jetset Studios. The name and logo shown belong to a real-life online interactive agency for Apatow Productions. Other product endorsements occurred throughout the film from companies such as Apple, Red Bull, Corona beer, Pepsi, Microsoft (Xbox 360) and Google.

Canadian author Rebecca Eckler has written in Maclean's Magazine about the similarities between the movie and her book, Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-Be, which was released in the U.S. in March 2005. She is pursuing legal action against Apatow and Universal Studios on the basis of copyright infringement.[5][6] In a public statement, Apatow said, "Anyone who reads the book and sees the movie will instantly know that they are two very different stories about a common experience."[7] Another Canadian author, Patricia Pearson, has also publicly claimed similarities between the film and her novel, Playing House. She has declined to sue.[8]

Reception

Overall, Knocked Up has been well received by critics, in addition to being a box office hit - not unlike Judd Apatow's previous directing effort, The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Critical reviews

The film has a 91% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 177 reviews (161 fresh, 16 rotten).[9] The film is currently the second best reviewed wide release of 2007, bested by Disney Pixar's Ratatouille, according to the website.[10]

In an early review, Variety magazine called the film "more explosively funny, more frequently, than nearly any major studio release in recent memory."[11] Another early review, eFilmCritic stated the following about Knocked Up, "Before you go into Knocked Up, every serious movie fan should make up a list of their favorite comedies of the past two decades. If Old School is on it, you are disqualified. But no matter what is, scratch one off of it – because Knocked Up is going to knock it off eventually and it's earned the spot."[12] Entertainment Weekly praised the film highly, giving it a grade of A, calling it an "extremely rude, extremely funny, irresistible fairy tale about contemporary American frogs, princesses, childbirth classes, and bongs". [13] On Ebert & Roeper, Richard Roeper and guest critic David Edelstein gave Knocked Up two big thumbs up, with Roeper calling it "likeable and real", noting that the film even "deserves its sentimental moments".[14]

Box office performance

The film opened at #2 at the U.S. box office, earning $30,690,990 in its opening weekend.[15] As of September 17, the film has grossed $148,597,000 domestically and $45,391,648 in foreign territories,[1] totaling about $194,000,000. Knocked Up follows the box office success of the 2004 suprise hit 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin which grossed $109,000,000 and opened with $21,900,00. Both of these movies were produced by Judd Apatow and starred Seth Rogen.

Awards

The 2007 Teen Choice Awards has awarded Ryan Seacrest for his brief cameo on "Best Hissy Fit", where he becomes self-obsessed and complaining about rising young talents.

DVD release

Knocked Up was released on September 25, 2007 in several editions:[16]

  • Unrated 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (Widescreen)
  • Unrated 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (Widescreen) with bonus pack of playing cards (Best Buy exclusive)
  • Unrated DVD (Widescreen)
  • Unrated DVD (Fullscreen)
  • R-rated DVD (Widescreen)
  • Unrated HD-DVD (Widescreen)

Music

Strange Weirdos: Music From And Inspired By The Film Knocked Up, an original soundtrack album, was composed for the film by folk singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III and Joe Henry.

In addition to Wainwright's tracks, there were approximately 40 songs featued in the motion picture that were not included on the official soundtrack on Concord Records. [17]

References

  1. ^ a b "Knocked Up: Summary". Box Office Mojo. 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ 'Grey's' Star Heigl Gets 'Knocked Up'. Zap2it.com. April 18, 2006. Retrieved on April 11, 2007.
  3. ^ Judd Apatow's Family Values. The New York Times. May 27, 2007. Retrieved June 3, 2007.
  4. ^ http://www.shakefire.com/articles/knockedup.html
  5. ^ Eckler, Rebecca: "Is That my Baby on the Screen", page 69-71. Maclean's Magazine, Volume 120 Number 22, June 11, 2007
  6. ^ Complaint for Copyright Infringement: Demand for Jury Trial - legal filing with United States District Court, Central Distric of California, January 3, 2007
  7. ^ Author says 'Knocked Up' ripped off, Associated Press, CNN.com, Published June 7, 2007, Retrieved on June 9, 2007
  8. ^ Pearson, Patricia. "Knocked over by Knocked Up lawsuit". Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  9. ^ Rotten Tomatoes - Knocked Up. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on June 12, 2007.
  10. ^ "Knocked Up" is 2007's Best-Reviewed Wide Release. Rotten Tomatoes.
  11. ^ Leydon, Joe. Knocked Up review Variety. March 13, 2007. Retrieved on April 11, 2007.
  12. ^ Childress, Erik. Movie Review - Knocked Up March 22, 2007. Retrieved on April 19, 2007
  13. ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa Knocked Up - Movie Review May 20, 2007. Retrieved on August 7, 2007.
  14. ^ Knocked Up review on Ebert and Roeper May 27, 2007. Retrieved on August 7, 2007.
  15. ^ "Knocked Up: Daily Box Office". Box Office Mojo. 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Knocked Up at VideoETA
  17. ^ 'SoundtrackINFO: Knocked Up soundtrack'. Soundtrackinfo.com. September, 2007. Retrieved on September 29, 2007.
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