Knocked Up - 7

Judd Apatow has done it again: made a film that is both hilarious and yet brutally honest (The 40 Year-Old Virgin, less so with Fun with Dick and Jane). In this case a seemingly simple one night stand between stoner/regular guy Ben (Seth Rogen) and entertainment reporter Alison (Katherine Heigl), gets very complicated when they find out that they are pregnant. After seeing the beating heart of the child growing inside of her, Alison decides to have it and hopes that Ben will help out- that maybe they can "make love" the long drawn out emotional way. The road is bumpy and they have Alison's married sister, Debbie (Leslie Mann) and husband Pete (Paul Rudd) to highlight the highs and lows of being a family. While this is a comedy with many great laughs, it is not without its serious and honest conversations. The characters come across as real people, able to laugh at the human condition while avoiding seeing all of life as absurd.
Ultimately, this film is about people being forced to learn what it means to grow up. Ben and Alison have tried to see their lives as without much consequence, which means little responsibility- and they got to like it that way. The un-thought through choices that they have made now confront them with responsibility- and a life, not just their own, depends on it. The characters contemplate their options, and realize that changing isn't always bad- in fact, it might allow them to be who they really are.
This film is rated R, mostly because there are some graphic scenes of a birth and language, and it should have this rating, I have a hunch that an audience under 18 (although not everyone) might miss the complexity of the story and the messiness of relationships. And despite the fact that we don't think of people growing up in our culture, Apatow makes a case that there is indeed a time to take up one's full responsibility in the world- for yourself and for others.