l ,l )l‘Jll l l r/ KNOCKED UP (15) 128mm 0000
Production assistant Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she is given the chance to present on an entertainment TV channel. One day her producer tells her that her body could do with being a little ‘tighter’. But no amount of gym time is going to burn off these pounds because she has a bun in the oven, the result of a celebratory night out with her older sister Debbie (Leslie Mann), at the end of which she ended up getting it on with slacker Ben Stone (Seth Rogen). Stone is as far removed from your typical American movie romantic character as is possible; he’s tubby, has no job and spends his days hanging out with his mates smoking illegal substances. He’s about as metrosexual as Fred Flintstone and in writer/actor Rogen's hands comes on like the heir to the great John Belushi (check out the forthcoming Superbad for more proof). Writer/director Judd Apatow’s remarkable new comedy is a superb mix of Animal House-style gross out humour and Love Story sentimentality. What makes Knocked Up stand out is not just the fact that the jokes are side- splittingly funny but that nearly everything that happens to the couple rings so true. Broader in scope and humour than Apatow’s last comedy The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up does still suffer from an over indulgence in exposition (on both the male and female sides) which results in an unwieldly running time, but, all things considered, this is still the best US comedy released so far this year. (Kaleem Aftab) I(it’llr’ltl/ft‘lt‘gltlt’ from f 'l..)-1Al/t}.
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ll rlrlie llarnnonl I General release from In (fl Aug
the subtle l)f;‘y<Ill()l()(_ll(L(tl approth of King‘s original short stun. Cusack‘s character is .' ssaulterl l)‘, all rnanner of physical rrianifestations of inner (lemons. including repeated exposure to Hit: Carpenters "/‘le’xe Oril‘. .Just Begun] before a tacked-on backstor‘, about his (lead (laughter leads to an llltSEillSl‘fllll} conclusion. King lllil‘, have been unhappy '.‘./|llt Kubrick's genuiner frightening version of his book. but this Shining-lite it; no irnpro‘.'ernent; sure. there's a secret behind the door of room l-Jllt‘i‘. but it's the same one that haunts most of King's tortured protagonists.
rEddie Harrison:
I Geriera/ wileafm from F .‘j'i Aug.
DRAMA COMEDY YEAR OF THE DOG (PG) 97min .0
Talented eorriir: screenwriter and actor Mike White Chuck and Burl. llie (ioorl Girl. Sohoo.l of Rock» makes his directing debut .‘lllll this low key comedy about a loosely related group of neurotic nerds. geeks. (forks and str :83 lllflllk‘:,", living in lilarizl suburban Los Angeles At the centre of this 'burb rneltrlown l‘, Peggy llvlollfi; Shannoni. an awk‘.‘l.rarrl single (lbsornething whose r,arefull, managed life is thrown into turmoil when her beloved pet dog Pencil rlief, in rn‘,sterious circurrrstances after a .risit to the neighbours backyard. Orbiting Mollx, are her uptight brother and sister-in-law {Thorrias McCarthy and Laura Derni. best friend iRegrna Kingi. who's obsessed 'mth rnarn/ing her 'f/Ullléil'l‘fillg l)O\,"lil(:flCl. her boss lJosh Paisi. a workaholic. the aforementioned neighbour (John. C R8!ll,n. a bachelor wrth a fetish for hunting knives. and potential lore interest Newt iPeter Sarsgaardl and a new pet woofa.
As Written arid directed b, \‘.’hite. Year of the Dog is a xery '.‘/llli'll3l(,8l whee/e that overdoses or: pathos at the expense of actual laughs. The film feels far too tarrie for its own good. Perhaps the edginess that characterises White's other llll‘i‘b should be attriLated to his collaborations wrth other filmmakers lnotably Miguel Arteta ‘."./hate.er t'ie case. the talents of his IfflprESSl/G cast are here target, '.-.rasted. Better off checking out Bobcat Goldtrmait's recent. hilarious John Waters-esdue canine corned; Sleeping Dogs. lMiIes Fielder;
I General release from Fri 37 Aug.
2’: Aug—r. Set. 2%? THE LIST 23