Saturday Movies: This Is 40 (2012)

Spoiler: If you're looking for Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl in this movie then don't. They make no appearance, so it's not technically a sequel of any kind, more like a spin off. Just in case anyone was confused about that. The funnier parts of Knocked Up did included Pete and Debbie or so I thought. The thing is two bickering couples may not make the best leads for a movie. Knocked Up seemed to portray them as they unhappy married couple, and this movie continues on with exploring that, but when you've stereotyped characters so heavily for humor is it possible to give that relationship depth?

Pete and Debbie are both now 40, and while Debbie is reluctant to accept this, it seems Pete has embraced it. He even welcomes Viagra in his life to help him perform better. Along with the stress of turning 40 though, and trying to maintain a good sex life the two also have two children, both girls, who are hitting their teens years. With that comes a lot of bickering, and hate toward their own parents. Even though the youngest, Charlotte, is still very child like. Trying to balance the discipline between Sadie and Charlotte is proving to be no easy task though. The stress is proving to be a bit much though as Pete and Debbie try to work on their marriage.


The news is that marriage is hard, and this movie does take a good look at that. Of course, it may not be as humorful at times as the movie portrays either though. Money, jobs, children, and maintaining chemistry with your spouse though are all examined in this movie, and it does a good job at trying to make the masses relate to the very broad amount of troubles that can plague a couple. The biggest complaint though will the huge running time. No comedy can keep it up for over two hours with your face being drained of any emotion.

Debbie and Pete are stereotypical couples. He is a cavemen who is farting in bed, and she is so uptight she gets offended when he farts. This might be the biggest killer of the movie. I think after being together so long it just wouldn't bother you if someone farted around you. It's going to happen. What makes no sense is that she is bothered by him killing the romance in bed with farting, yet she walks into the bathroom and carries a conversation with him while he is sitting on the toilet. Watching someone taking a dump would be way huger of a sex killer than passing gas.

Paul Rudd though is the only character who seems to have some depth. He is trying to please his wife physically, and he is dealing with some killer finances at work while trying to pursue what he loves. Debbie just nags and nags. Maybe it's just the type of women that Judd Apatow likes to put in his movies? In Knocked Up that's all the women did either. The man are goofy and fun, and the women are uptight and always pushing the men into being not fun. There are some laughs in the movie though. Such as when the pair decide to get high on a night out with each other. So it does have it's share of funny moments, and the end does end on a high note of being a cute romantic comedy. There is one scene where Pete is having his birthday party that runs way too long though. You could have shaved several minutes from that and been fine.

This is 40 tackles a huge topic, and it does it's best while also fusing in some humor. Had everything not been so stereotypical it probably would have been a lot better. The acting though keeps it light and funny, which is fitting for the movie. This movie doesn't really seem to be about turning 40 though as much it explores just being married and a parent.

Rating 7 of 10.