Before the wife fell asleep Friday night, we rented Knocked Up from Family Video (oh, the irony) and gave it a whirl. I'd been warned by a MySpace friend about the vulgar content, but was also told that it was very funny and entertaining if one can get beyond the vulgarity.
Let's evaluate the pros and the cons of this film.
Cons: Way too many boobies here, man. Seriously. I can't do the nudity thing, and I don't need to hear everyone tell everyone else to go frack themselves. The guys are morons, and their lives revolve around pot and porn. Probably very accurate for some percentage of the male American population, but still not worth exposing one's self to.
Pros: Ben is a typical immature pothead. Despite his complete lack of maturity, he makes some good decisions long-term after a casual sexual encounter leads to a pregnancy. He has no clue what it means to support a woman through pregnancy. But an emotional break-up serves as a wake up call to take fatherhood seriously and he begins making necessary changes to embrace the role he will soon find himself in.
This was a hugely popular film in the box office. Oddly enough, I'm glad for that. There are thousands of men out there who may identify with Ben on some level. These men need to see a man not too different from themselves stand up and be a real father and not treat parenthood as an afterthought. The trimmings were obscene, as I've already mentioned, and I can't approve of the nudity or excessive crass sexual banter.
Verdict: Don't waste your time on this movie. You probably already know that a father's job is to be emotionally and physically present. You don't need a sexually tacky film to teach you this. And if you do, you're probably not the type of person to be reading this.