This Is 40 (2012)

Starring: Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd, John Lithgow, Megan Fox, Albert Brooks, Maud Apatow, Iris Apatow

Director:  Judd Apatow

Genre: Comedy

Rating: B

Pete (Rudd) and Debbie (Mann) are a married couple who are both about to celebrate their 40th birthday; Debbie is extremely distressed about this, Pete less so.   Deciding that they need to improve their lives, Debbie sets out to change things: they need to exercise more and eat better; furthermore, Debbie wants them to change their relationships with their fathers: Pete needs to stop lending money to his dad, Larry (Brooks) and Debbie needs to reconnect with her dad, Oliver (Lithgow).  Their problems are exacerbated by the fact that Pete's record company is failing, although he's not told his wife, and someone's stealing money from Debbie's business.

There isn't really a plot to this movie, in a lot of ways it's more just a series of events that sometimes build upon each other, and in a way this film kind of feels more like real life than most movies.  The problems that Pete and Debbie face have a very unscripted feel to them - with few exceptions - and thus feel very real.  Their fights are about stupid things that blow up out of proportion - I love the major fight that happens midway through and leaves them both questioning why they ever got married and why they're still together.  At first I wasn't as big of a fan of the way that each of them interacted with their fathers - both seemed a bit stereotypical and played out - but as the movie continued and the fights continued, I really got into both of them.

I also really love the kids.  The two children in this movie, Sadie and Charlotte (Maude and Iris Apatow) are actually the children of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, and as such the dynamic between them really feels like a sibling dynamic, the lines that they say really feel like something that they would say, and so on.  I loved Sadie's obsession with Lost and, having seen the show, I was waiting for her to watch the end of it all and have a meltdown - and thought that the way they did that was absolutely perfect.

Finally, the thing that really made this movie was the secondary characters.  From the other Knocked Up cast members - Jason Segel, Charlyne Yi, and Tim Bagley all reprise their roles - to the new additions - Melissa McCarthy, Megan Fox, Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, Lena Dunham, and Chris O'Dowd.  It was all great.   None of them necessarily had to be in this movie, but they each brought something great and were hilarious.  I really enjoyed this movie.

Friends with Kids (2011)

Starring: Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wigg, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Megan Fox, Edward Burns

Director: Jennifer Westfeldt

Genre: Comedy

Rating: B+

What do you do when you know you want kids, and the significant other, and all that comes with it, but see how miserable all of that has made your closest friends?  This is the problem that two best friends, Jason (Scott) and Julie (Westfeldt) come across.  In their mid-30s they've always been somewhat unsuccessful at dating and have watched as their married friends - the placid Alex (O'Dowd) and Lesliee (Rudolph) and the sex-obsessed Ben (Hamm) and Missy (Wigg) - settle down, have kids, and then appear to become completely miserable.  So Jason and Julie come to a conclusion - the trick is to first have a baby, then find love, and decide that they should have a child.

What I think really helps make this movie so great is the fact that the cast are all friends - or more - and thus the chemistry between the group is really easy and fun - even when the shit is hitting the fan.  The film feels real, although I could have done without the mentioning of Jason and Julie's parents as that awkwardness didn't really add anything (still felt real, just didn't feel necessary).  I actually really loved how none of the characters seem to really have it together, even when they think they do, and each set of couples goes through a point when they think that they're better than their friends - and consequently find out that no, they really aren't.  The one thing that I would have wanted from this film in terms of the cast is a bit more development into the two not-core couples; the dynamics between Rudolph and O'Dowd and Hamm and Wigg are great, and you just kind of want more of them at times.  I also didn't really think that Edward Burns' character needed to be so perfect, it kind of made him out to be a bit of a Mary Sue which was disappointing given how great the rest of the cast was.

I do have to admit, though, that I wasn't a huge fan of the ending.  To me, it kind of felt as though this film was trying to do something different - which I loved - but in the end caved into pressure and went the route that you expected.  It was kind of a cop out, which was just disappointing.  It's not that the ending was bad, per say, just that it wasn't what fit with the tone of the rest of the movie.