Don't believe the hype. This is 40.
My apologies to Judd Apatow fans across the country...I don't get it. And btw, I have never seen Seinfeld. Not. One. Episode. So maybe that is why I don't get this humor.
Last night, I sat through 2 hours and 17 minutes of "This is 40" -- easily 2 hours too long -- and I walked away hating the people in the movie and hating myself for forcing my hubby to watch it. I pleaded with him, "No, it's going to be super funny. There are definitely poop and fart jokes. It'll be great." We base a lot of movie decisions on toilet humor. This is why "Family Guy" is my favorite show of all time.
Maybe it's just me. I mean, I don't expect couples in movies to be perfect but these couples flat out hate each other. There was nothing redeeming or endearing about any of them. People "hating" in general seems to be a common theme in all of his movies.
It made me do some research. How many of his movies have I seen and what were my take-aways.
Briefly,
"Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy": again, I apologize, but I do not find Will Ferrell the least bit funny (unless he is doing his impersonation of George Bush). The only saving grace in that movie was Steve Carell's outtakes at the end of the movie.
"The 40 Year Old Virgin": I laughed at it the first time, the second time it just felt uncomfortable.
"Talladega Nights": lame (I blame Ferrell)
"Knocked Up": here is where the "couples who shouldn't be together" theme starts for me.
"Superbad": I didn't find this funny. I thought the goofy delivery by Jonah Hill and McLovin' (gawd that guy irks me) wasn't clever, it was bad acting!
"Forgetting Sarah Marshall": thanks to Mila Kunis and Russell Brand, I was able to enjoy this one...slightly.
"Get Him To The Greek": reusing Russell Brand's character? Why.
"Bridesmaids": I am not going to apologize for hating this one. Ladies, this isn't funny. You can't tell me you know people like this.
And finally, "This is 40".
I feel robbed. All the funny, "look we're old, come look at this thing on my ass" jokes? Everything you saw in the commercials? Those were the gems, my friends. The rest of the movie is how this couple slowly unravels, realizing maybe they shouldn't be together after umpteen years of marriage and two kids. I'm sorry, if it takes you that long to figure it out, then shame on you for not noticing the signs in the first place that you're a couple of mismatched idiots that were doing the "right thing" and getting married because that's what everyone does.
Maybe my husband and I are so sickeningly happy, we just can't relate to this movie. And it makes us shake our heads that there are people our there who can relate to this twisted relationship in the movie. Why would anyone want to be in a situation like these two are in? It's literally two hours of them hiding things from each other. I am a huge stickler on trust and honesty. Omissions are lies. This whole movie is built on lies. And screaming. The two kids made me thankful I never had kids. I would've killed them both.
Now I will say Judd Apatow got one thing right. Helping Lena Dunham get her own show "Girls" was 100% the right thing to do. I am really hoping he's letting her have creative license on everything. And yes, I realize the whole show is based on bad relationships and people acting terrible. But it's only 27 minutes once a week. I can handle people hating in small increments.
-kd
Other movies I was disappointed in:
Young Adult with Charlize Theron, billed as a comedy, it made me squirm in a lot of parts and I laughed only when I realized it wasn't the feel-good movie I thought it was going to be.
The Hangover II with the wolf pack, they should've stopped with the first movie, it was original and ridiculous and silly. The second one was like a wet towel. Didn't work as well and it stunk.
Date Night with Tina Fey. Oh, Tina, I had such high hopes but you paired with Steve Carell and you played the couple that lost that lovin' feeling. So you had to go out on a date to save your marriage and magically, by putting yourselves in danger, you suddenly fell in love again. How long will that last in real life?
(P.S. I didn't bother with any links in this post on purpose.)