Seen: Jun 11th, 2007
Format: Theater
Rating: 5
Man, I wanted to love this film. I did love parts of it. I like Seth Rogen, I think he's got some amazing timing. I think Katherine Heigl is gorgeous and I was very suprised at how game she was here. Her role was hardly conventional or one dimensional.
There were some great gags. The conceit is very solid. The dialogue is generally good, and the supporting characters and their actors solid.
So where does it all go wrong?
It's just too much. There's too much going on all at once. It tries to be too many things to too many people and eventually collapses under its own weight.
It's a stoner flick. It's a gross-out comedy. It's a girl becoming a woman via becoming a mother film. It's a relationship film. Scratch that, a two relationship film. And a fear of relationship film, times two .. or three... or four. It's a wild night out film, and a guy outgrowing his friends and becoming responsible film.
I'm sure you can keep going on your own.
The problem is that does a fair job of all of this things, but really doesn't excel at any of them.
It's rife with gags, most of which are good. Some are running, and they pop up unexpectedly and are resonably effective. But they're really just window dressing on the underlying, core plot, which is so much more serious. It's hard to understand why the film makers kept undermining it. Comic relief is one thing, but these are full bore comic tangents, often with a improvised feel.
I could go on and on, but basically this is about three different fairly good films, all rolled up to make one mediocre one. It's a shame that it couldn't decide which one it wanted to be.
The Good: Comic dialogue and timing
The Bad: Serious dialogue and timing
The Ugly: Pink Eye
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