This is 40

 

It's gotten to the point where you pretty much know exactly what you're in for when you go to see a Judd Apatow movie.  His personal style seems to revolve around mixing adult sexual humor and somewhat coarse dialogue, with moments of genuine sweetness and sincerity.  His latest film, This is 40, is no different.  However, it may also be his most heartfelt and personal film yet.  Not a big surprise, considering the movie was supposedly inspired a lot by his own life and marriage to actress Leslie Mann (who stars in the film).  This is a funny and engaging film up to a point.  At 135 minutes, the movie does get stretched a bit too thin.  Unfortunately, this is also something audiences have come to expect from an Apatow movie, and something he doesn't seem to be in a rush to change.

This is 40 is being advertised as the "sort-of sequel to Knocked Up", Apatow's hit comedy from 2007.  Basically what this means is that two of the supporting characters from that film have been advanced into the lead roles.  No knowledge of the earlier film is required to enjoy this.  The two characters in question taking the center stage in this film are married couple Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann).  The film covers a very loose narrative over the course of two weeks, where the couple prepare to hit their 40th birthdays just days apart from each other, deal with the joys and problems of raising two young daughters (played by Apatow's real life daughters, Maude and Iris), and financial difficulties.  Pete, in particular, is the owner of a struggling independent music label that desperately needs a hit in order to stay afloat.  As for Debbie, she runs a clothing store, and one of her employees is supposedly stealing money from her.

There is no real concrete plot to follow here.  The movie is made up simply of a series of vignettes and subplots, some of which are more successful than others.  The ones that worked best for me were the ones centered on the family itself.  I liked the scenes with the daughters, and I especially enjoyed the individual subplots concerning Pete and Debbie's respective fathers.  In Pete's case, his father (Albert Brooks) never really seems to take things all that seriously, despite the fact that he has a much younger wife and three young kids at home to take care of.  He's constantly "borrowing" money from his son, which puts further financial strain on Pete's life.  As for Debbie, her father (John Lithgow) left when she was very young, and has hardly been a presence in her life.  When he shows up at a family gathering late in the film, he is essentially a stranger to everyone.  The movie is also at its best when it is just taking an honest and often funny look at everyday events in Pete and Debbie's marriage - The arguments, the attempts at sex (which are interrupted either by the kids, or a dispute that arises between the two), and trying to keep the image of a happy family when everything is falling apart around you.

What sets This is 40 apart, and what made me enjoy it, is that it's not about a marriage imploding, nor is it about Pete or Debbie being tempted to find sexual release with another person.  It is simply about a marriage, a family, and the everyday lives of these people.  Though the film's numerous subplots, we're introduced to the different aspects of these people and their lives.  Pete and Debbie seem like real and fleshed out characters, though not quite enough to carry a 2 hour + long movie.  This is the big downfall here.  Apatow really needs to learn editing, as there are numerous scenes or plots that could have easily been removed without any consequence.  It's not that they're badly written or acted, they just seem to exist simply as padding.  And the movie also starts running out of steam around the 100 minute mark, which means there's still just over a half hour left to go.  There's just not enough substance here to carry a film this long.

But before that final stretch started to drag, I was loving every minute of this movie.  You can tell that the entire cast are putting their hearts into this movie, with Rudd and Mann giving some of their best performances recently.  It's also very observational about marriage, and families in general.  Sure, it's nothing we haven't heard before in a movie, but Apatow's trademark humor (which can swing toward the vulgar and the crude more often than not) gives it a fresher spin.  This is not just a generic romantic comedy about two people rediscovering feelings for each other.  It's been well thought out, and Apatow is clearly writing from his very soul, and sharing some of the things he has learned from his own life.  It gives the film a more honest angle than I was expecting.

 

This is 40 is wise, very funny, and filled with everyday occurrences that is likely to have audience members nodding their heads with recognition.  The only thing holding it back is its length.  With a good half hour or so chopped off, this could have been a great movie instead of a good one.  Still, given that a number of December's releases thus far have been disappointments, I'll gladly take good.  This is the kind of movie where I think a lot of people who watch it will be able to see a little bit of themselves up on the screen.

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