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Daily Blarrrgh: Knocked Around on Knocked Up
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I could write a movie review of Knocked Up -- and maybe I still will -- but it will just be a long list of hilarious moments (there's the part where he does this one thing... and then she says this other thing...) in a movie overflowing with hilarity. Trust me on this: you will walk out of the movie floating on fluffly pink cloud of funny-ness, and I don't want to spoil a second of it for you.
The other noteworthy aspect of Knocked Up? Traditional American Values. Really & truly. Despite all the potty humor and personal awkwardness in director Judd Apatow's films, the values on display in his movies are remarkably traditional, so I wasn't at all surprised to read in Stephen Rodrick's profile of Apatow in Sunday's NY Times magazine that Apatow is a really square guy. Thankfully this hasn't impeded his sense of humor.
Both of the films Apatow has directed offer up the kind of conservative morals the Family Research Council might embrace — if the humor weren’t so filthy. In “Virgin,” the title character is saving himself for true love. "Knocked Up,” which opens on June 1, revolves around a good-hearted doofus who copes with an unplanned pregnancy by getting a job and eliminating the bong hits. In each of the films, the hero is nearly led astray by buddies... By the end, Apatow exposes the friends as well meaning but comically pathetic and steers his men toward doing the right thing.
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Aside from the fact that Seth Rogen was/is a big time stoner (surprise, surprise!), another thing you'll learn in the NY Times article is that Katherine Heigl wasn't the first choice for the female lead. The role was originally offered to Anne Hathaway who refused to be in a movie that contained such graphic shots of a baby being born.
Here's what you won't learn in the NY Times article (in fact, Apatow claims in the article Rogen was his ONLY choice for the male lead): the role was originally played by Michael Cera, AKA George-Michael on Arrested Development. Here's a clip of Apatow trying to direct Cera on set, which sheds some light on why the change was made. Defamer thinks it's a fake, and I tend to agree. There don't seem to be too many hard feelings, as Cera will co-star in Superbad, a film cowritten by Seth Rogen & his best friend, Knocked Up executive producer Evan Goldberg.
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