Take a trip back to a time when Seth Rogen’s voice was at peak burliness.
I think you can actually chart the quality of Rogen films to the decline in his vocal power. In The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Superbad and Pineapple Express, he sounded like he had a frog caught in throat, a frog with a spiky beard (that produced the husky tones), and the movies were fucking great. Now his voice has gone all boring and he’s dropping meh films like American Pickle. Is that a coincidence?
Anyway, tonight we’re taking you back to peak Rogen to watch 2007’s Knocked Up, which was written, produced and directed by Judd Apatow. The story follows deadbeat stoner Ben (Rogen) and ambitious TV host Alison (Katherine Heigl) as they embark on the wondrous journey of parenthood following a one-night stand. The Rogen crew play his loser mates, with Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd nailing the roles of Alison’s older sister and brother-in-law.
Stop scrolling Netflix waiting for inspiration and check out five reasons why you should (re)watch Knocked Up below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv01Mcdf8rI
The romance
I’m not talking about Alison and Ben. I’m talking about the romance between Ben and Pete. You’ve got the younger guy trying to be more responsible bouncing off older guy trying to recapture some of his youth, and the two bond somewhere in the middle over dumb movie references and bitching about their partners. Perfect characters for Rogen and Rudd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qG67vGwgcY
It’ll get you off weed.
Well… it should. Back in the day, many of us probably watched this for the first time whilst high, but really it’s an anti-weed movie. In order to sort his life out, Ben kinda has to say goodbye to pot and his stoner pals and become a dad. Not that we got that on first watching…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYXLKRNCVrw
Harsh truths.
Once again Judd’s dropping pearls of wisdom. This time delivering the facts via Craig Robinson as the bouncer; if you’re old and/or pregnant, don’t go to the club. It’s the bloody truth, and I say this as an “old” person.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmiVlyAfTnw
Ken Jeong’s debut.
Before he was starring in Community and The Hangover trilogy, Ken Jeong was working as a doctor by day and doing stand-up comedy at night. He credits this film as his big break, and this deleted scene shows just how talented he is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FdJlKc4W68
Happy ending.
Heyyyy… not that kind of happy ending, you grub. Like all Apatow movies, Knocked Up would work even if there wasn’t a bunch of pink eye and vagina jokes, because of the perfect little character arcs he works in. Can’t help but tear up a little as the new family drive home in the end… but I may have just gotten some weed in my eye.
