APATOW, JUDD

May 17, 2007

APATOW, JUDD

by Ethan Alter

Halfway through Knocked Up, the second feature from writer/director/producer/all-around comedy guru Judd Apatow, there's a scene in which the film's slacker hero Ben (Seth Rogen) accompanies his sort-of girlfriend--and accidental mother of his unborn child--Alison ("Grey's Anatomy" star Katherine Heigl) to her regular checkup. The mood in the car is tense; Alison is upset about Ben's continued irresponsibility and Ben is sick of Alison nagging him to stop toking up and goofing off. Their bickering grows more and more heated until, in a fit of hormone-fueled rage, Alison stops the car in the middle of the road and orders her deadbeat baby daddy out into traffic. Ben puts up some token resistance, but in the end, he knows he's no match for an angry pregnant lady. So he climbs out of the car, watches Alison peel off, and then proceeds to walk the rest of the way to the gynecologist's office.

As Homer Simpson might say, this scene is funny because it's true. According to Apatow, when his wife, actress Leslie Mann, was pregnant with one of their two children, she really did kick him out of their car on the way to a doctor's appointment. "In a way the characters are like Leslie and I distorted through a funhouse mirror," he says on the phone from Hawaii, where he's spending a few days on the set of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, one of the many projects that his company Apatow Productions has on its slate. "How a lot of Knocked Up came about was my wife and I laughing about the fights we've had and the bad moments we've gotten through. Leslie would say: 'Wasn't that funny the time that I kicked you out of the car on the way to the gynecologist's office when I was hormonal and you were being really annoying?' So those ideas slowly worked their way into the script and then we started talking to Paul and Seth and Katherine and fused our funny weird stuff with their personal problems. Hopefully, it all came out funny."

He needn't worry about that. Like his debut film The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up is sure to keep moviegoers in stitches and maybe even move them a little besides. Universal Pictures is certainly confident in the movie, giving it a prime summer spot on June 1 right smack in between action-oriented spectacles like the third Pirates of the Caribbean adventure and the continued exploits of the Fantastic Four. (In contrast, Virgin slipped into theatres during the dog days of August, when the summer movie season is traditionally winding down.)

The high-profile release caps Apatow's meteoric rise through the Hollywood ranks; it's hard to believe that only a few short years ago he was mainly known for producing a pair of critically acclaimed but poorly rated TV shows, "Freaks & Geeks" and "Undeclared." Even though those series never found the audience they deserved, they remain a defining part of his career. In addition to introducing him to a group of actors (including Rogen, who first met Apatow when he was just 16 during a "Freaks & Geeks" casting session in Canada) that he's transformed into his own personal repertory company, both shows provided him with a training ground to refine his particular brand of comedy, which blends lots of frank talk about relationships and sex with an unexpected sweetness that's difficult to resist.

"I'm always trying to be positive in my work," he explains. "The only reason I make anything is to give people an experience that leaves them with something positive. I don't know how to approach it any other way. What we tried to do with "Freaks & Geeks" was tell stories about kids who were failing, but getting stronger and forging bonds with their friends. Ultimately, everything would work out for them, but not until they were in their 20s."

With Knocked Up, Apatow's overarching goal was to "make a movie about pregnancy and relationships that I wouldn't hate." With that in mind, he came up with the saga of Ben and Alison, two people who couldn't be more different and yet make the decision to commit to each other in the face of a life-changing experience that might tear more picture-perfect couples apart. When we first meet Ben, he's living a life of carefree hedonism with his fellow stoners (all of whom are played by Apatow regulars like Jason Segal, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill and Martin Starr), while Alison is a career-minded professional who has just landed her dream gig as an on-air reporter for the E! network. The two meet at a club, get wasted and wind up in bed together. After a painfully awkward morning-after breakfast, they part ways for good...until eight weeks later when Alison learns that she's pregnant.

"I felt that the panic of a child coming was a really funny subject for a comedy and the more I could raise the tension of the panic, the funnier it could be--that's why it's people who get pregnant on the first date," Apatow says. "Ultimately, though, I'm trying to tell a story about how people learn lessons and how we sometimes fight with other people to get there. The main point of the movie is that it's hard work and is definitely worth it, but it requires a commitment. People are sometimes surprised that Alison hangs in there with Ben, but that's what I like about the movie: It's about people who are willing to try really hard to see what the other person is made of and if they can go through this life together." He pauses for a moment, before adding: "Of course, none of this stuff sounds funny when I talk about it intellectually. But when you add in crowning shots and penis jokes, it becomes super funny."

Although this odd couple's struggle to find common ground forms the central spine of the movie, a large amount of screen time is devoted to the equally strained relationship between Alison's high-strung sister Debbie (Mann) and her husband Pete (Paul Rudd). Married for almost a decade, they have a nice house, two beautiful kids (played by Apatow and Mann's daughters Maude and Iris) and some serious marital problems, chief among them being Pete's detached demeanor, which his wife interprets as a sure sign that he's having an affair. "I thought it would be a great way to explore what it's like having children and trying to maintain a relationship over a long period of time with all the obstacles and communication problems people have," Apatow says of his decision to make Pete and Debbie's story a substantial part of the film. "Seeing how her sister is handling it eight years in would make Alison even more concerned about Ben. She sees that it's tricky and thinks, 'How am I going to do it if I don't even like the guy I'm doing it with?'"

With his wife playing Debbie and Maude and Iris as their kids, Pete is obviously Apatow's stand-in, right? Once again, the answer is a resounding...kind of. "Their problems are based on things that my wife and I talk about," Apatow reiterates. "We just haven't experienced them in this specific way. We definitely do talk about me being emotionally detached at times and working too much. But that's the personality of a comedy writer--you're neurotic, so you learn how to be funny so other people will like you. To be present with your kids and your wife without the element of 'I need someone to be laughing at my jokes' is an important lesson I've had to learn."

Both Ben and Alison and Pete and Debbie are confronted with some weighty emotional issues during the course of Knocked Up's 132-minute running time, but one subject that's disposed of fairly early on is the thorny topic of abortion. Apatow says that this was purposeful, though not because of any personal beliefs or outside pressures. "I'm very pro-choice, but the story I wanted to tell was about two people who see a heartbeat and make a conscious decision to try and do what's right for that baby," he explains, adding that he did film a scene that was ultimately cut from the film where the expectant parents argued over whether they should consider abortion.

"There are stories to be told about people who make a different choice. One of my favorite movies is Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which has a high-school girl getting an abortion. Ultimately, it's a very personal choice and there's no way to resolve that issue in this movie. Everyone brings their own beliefs into the theatre; some people really can't believe that she doesn't get an abortion and for other people it makes perfect sense. I laugh sometimes because, in a way, The 40 Year Old Virgin is about how good it is not to have sex until you're in love and now this movie is all about keeping the baby. I'm sure there are people out there who I think I'm an underground agent for Pat Robertson. But that's why you need the dick jokes--they even it all out."

In speaking with Apatow, it's clear that one of his favorite things about making Knocked Up was giving longtime supporting player Rogen the chance to become a leading man. "I've thought that Seth could carry a movie since he was 16. He's like a classic W.C. Fields type of character--the grumpy, sarcastic, rough-edged guy who really is a sweet, caring person deep down. And it was fun for me to figure out how to turn him into the star of a movie: How do you tell the story and have him carry it? What will people like about him? It's not like I have any other Seth Rogen movies to turn to figure out what he might do in a certain situation."

And now that he's given Rogen a turn in the spotlight, the director is eager to do the same for other members of the Apatow Players. That's why Jason Segel is headlining Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which he also wrote), while Jonah Hill stars in Superbad, a teen comedy that's being released in August and is already attracting positive buzz. "I find there are a lot of actors that are interesting enough to be the center of a story, but they usually don't get the opportunity to have people write something for them and tailor every aspect of it to who they are. You might grab some guy from a comedy show and throw him into a script that's already written and it just doesn't fit and it's lame. That happens all the time. But it doesn't mean he can't be fantastic in something else, and he may never get the chance."

Apatow himself no longer has to worry about not being given second chances. His proven track record as a writer/director and producer, as well as his tight friendships with such stars as Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell, makes him a valuable commodity in a time when good mainstream studio comedies are hard to come by. Although he has yet to announce his next directing gig ("There are things percolating" is all he'll say), he did co-write this fall's Walk Hard, an elaborate spoof of musical biopics like Ray and Walk the Line that's being directed by Jake Kasdan and stars John C. Reilly as a legendary musician named Dewey Cox. "We're pretty sure it's going to win an Oscar in every category," Apatow says in his best mock-serious tone. "In fact, we are only making it for the awards. I must say that I've enjoyed so much not directing that movie. It's so complicated. I tip my hat to Jake and am so glad he's doing it and not me."

Whenever he does climb back into the director's chair, he'll do so with the same lofty ambition, to make a picture that can stand toe-to-toe with his all-time favorite film, Terms of Endearment. "When I start any movie, I think I'm making Terms," he laughs. "Then when I realize how far off the mark I am, that's where I start drifting into Porky's."