Lurv in the 21st Century

As I close out my vacation, I got the chance to go see a couple of movies I want to tell you about.

First, Knocked Up. Brought to us by the seriously funny Judd Apatow (sp?) who was the genius behind Freaks And Geeks and most recently, The 40 Year Old Virgin. The premise is pretty straight forward. One night stand ends up in pregnancy. The laughs are plenty, revolving around everything from bodily function jokes and sex to losing your youth and becoming a responsible adult. Seth Rogan, who plays Ben, is given the chance to broaden his style acting-wise. He's always done a good job at playing the somewhat obnoxious best buddy, but now we get to see him take his character from being a pot smoking slacker to someone vulnerable looking for a real relationship. I know Katherine Heigel (sp) more from her time on Roswell than Grey's Anatomy. She has a solid sense of comedic timing and she convinces you that her character would fall in love with Ben at some point. I thought the argument scenes were really well done--rarely has the word "fuck" been used in such a realistic manner in my book. All the supporting characters are full and believable (and many of them harken back to the Freaks & Geeks days) and really freakin' funny. This is a great adult movie that actually had me a little teary eyed at the end.

Second up is Waitress. Adrienne Shelley (sp--I gotta remember to look this stuff up) made her writing and directing debut with this low budget charmer about a waitress in a pie shop who is less than thrilled when she becomes pregnant. This is the summer of unplanned pregnancies I guess. (FYI--a couple of you may know Shelley from her roles in various Hal Hartley movies.)Anyway, our waitress is married to an abusive lout and really, really does not feel the maternal instinct. Most of the laughs stem from her less than traditional enthusiasm over the pending birth. She ends up having an affair with her doctor, the fabulously lovely Nathan Fillion. Even though they are both married, you sort of root for them to be together because her hubby is such a dick. Ultimately, even though she spends the whole film not wanting the baby, Kerri Russell's character changes her mind the instant she sees her new daughter. I was a little disappointed that the transformation would occur so quickly, but I guess you have to forgive Shelley for wanting the end the movie on the sweet side of its bittersweet tone. Russell is great. She makes us really feel for her character. Andy Griffith has a funny role as a cranky old man that you know is going to end up being a sweetly by the end, but that's okay.

Sadly, Adrienne Shelley was killed shortly before the movie debuted at Sundance so she wasn't able to enjoy the success of the film. And, sadly, we won't get the chance to see her grow as a director.

It's back to work tomorrow, which I am less than thrilled about. But, there are bills to be paid and the usual adult responsibilities to deal with. Can't wait.