“This Is 40,” Judd Apatow’s most recent film starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann, is a rehashing, trite conglomerate of all the things that have made Apatow famous.
The film is billed as a “sort of sequel” to “Knocked Up,” the 2007 raunch-fest that made Seth Rogen a leading man and household name and cemented Apatow’s status as the zeitgeist chronicler du jour.
Apatow’s “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up” — to a lesser extent — were breaths of fresh air when they were released and represented a significant shift in paradigm from Hollywood-as-usual. The narratives revolved around dissatisfaction with the transition from adolescence into adulthood were presented in a new and exciting way, and the films resonated with audiences.
Familiarity breeds contempt though, and “This Is 40,” which follows the marital strife and struggles of Debbie and Pete, ancillary characters in “Knocked Up” played by Mann and Rudd, feels anything but fresh.
The host of thinly developed and superfluous supporting characters and constant stream of mediocre gags is a chore, and it feels as though it was probably as much of a chore to write as it assuredly is to watch.
It would be hyperbolic to suggest that “This Is 40” is a cynical cash grab, but it’s not at all unfair to say that there is not enough heart or narrative meat to support a full movie here, and it shows.
While it is nice to see Albert Brooks getting work, his role feels haphazardly and needlessly thrown in. Brooks is lost amidst a sea of gross-out comedy that ceases to be shocking or provocative rapidly and just as quickly becomes boring and rote.
It’s impossible not to look back to 2009’s “Funny People,” which received more tepid and mixed reviews than any of Apatow’s previous efforts. It was hailed as Apatow’s most mature effort to date but was generally regarded with mixed sentiment as a finished product.
“This Is 40” seems like a concerted and deliberate effort to jump as far back from the “mature” designation as humanly possible — back into the relative safety of man-boy, gross-out scatological and sexual humor that made Apatow a cultural touchstone.
Unfortunately, it also eschews the soul and deeper, more profound wit that peeked out in his earlier films. “This Is 40” is worth a half-hearted viewing at best, but an evening with “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” or “Knocked Up” would still trump it.
