The unmissable wave of positive hype around Knocked Up is absolutely justified. We’ll still be flocking to see it when his next project, coming-of-age teen comedy Superbad, hits cinemas in September. And the second serving is just as sweet. So when did it all go right for Apatow and his giggle-flicks?
Knocked Up: Trailers, Cast, Review...
Superbad: Trailer, Photos, Cast...
Rex Features
The Background
It’s wrong to describe Judd Apatow as ‘the new kid on the block’. His current success is the fruition of two decades of comic perseverance. He was still in school when he started interviewing comedians at his local comedy club. The comics, among them Jay Leno, thought they were talking to the local press. In fact, they were simply helping Apatow with his research.
He arrived in Hollywood as a stand-up at the age of 17. But it didn’t fly. Despite his intentions as a solo act, his real successes came from writing jokes for other performers. He would later reflect on the move into writing. "My way of dealing with the world has always been to make fun of it and observe it, but not take part in it. That's how I became a writer."
Fortunately for Apatow, he was meeting all the right people. He shared a room with Adam Sandler, wrote jokes for Jim Carey and co-produced The Ben Stiller Show alongside the future superstar. The right connections and the demand for Apatow’s writing earned him producer spots on a range of Hollywood comedy shows throughout the nineties. But he really hit his stride as writer, director and producer on ‘Freaks and Geeks’ in 1999.
Casting some of his now-successful ‘discoveries’ (Seth Rogen, Jason Segel), this was the show in which he established the theme of future hits The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad. "I think that everything I do tends to root for the underdog,” he’s said since. “I always felt as a kid that I was under appreciated, invisible or weird, but I've always secretly thought people would one day appreciate what is different about me. I'm always putting that message out there. Eventually, the geeks will have their day."
image © Universal Pictures
Making All The Right Moves
It was the cult success of Freaks And Geeks that leant Apatow the weight to produce The 40-Year-Old Virgin, throwing Steve Carell into the spotlight from relative obscurity and, again, championing the nerd. The success of the project along with his involvement in Will Ferrell vehicles Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgendy and Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby brought Apatow’s name to the public attention.
His relationship with Seth Rogen grew further with The 40-Year-Old Virgin. “We were talking about writing something for him and all of his ideas were giant science-fiction movies,” Apatow recalls. “They were very high concept. I said ‘Seth, you don’t need a big concept to be funny. In Virgin, you’re funny just standing there talking. You just need a situation that’s funny because you’re in it… like you get a girl pregnant—and it’s funny because it’s you.'”
Rogen thought nothing of it. But Apatow pitched the idea to Universal anyway and Knocked Up was born. The result is the acclaimed comedy on UK screens at the moment. “It’s a movie with the same evolving spirit of The 40-Year-Old Virgin — which is a filthy, dirty movie with a good heart,” says Apatow. “Basically, I try and make these movies with the thought that they’re about trying hard not to be an asshole. Any story about the journey toward how to be a good person and what it takes to get there is funny to me.” And, clearly, it’s funny to us too. Some critics are calling Knocked Up – a laugh-out-loud character piece with heart – ‘the best movie of the summer’. The results seem to just keep rolling in for Apatow and his followers.
Image © Universal Pictures
But that’s not all. Rogen had proved not only to be a key performer on Freaks And Geeks but a talented writer also. The first script he submitted to Apatow was Superbad – a semi-biographical teen-piece about three high-school outcasts whose attempt to stage a booze-soaked end-of-year party goes badly wrong. The script tied right in to The Apatow trademark of underdog characters breaking out of their shells. “At its heart, Superbad is a movie about being terrified to move on,” notes the producer. “That fear turns into an obsession with chasing these girls. To me, that makes this a sweet story, despite the fact that all the comedy is really far out.”
Under new creation The Apatow Company, Rogen’s script idea was realised. And, again, the formula works. The Superbad teenagers (Jonah Hill and Michael Cera) are brilliant in extreme comedy situations – Hill drunkenly headbutts the object of his affections. But they’re absolutely relatable characters - a brilliantly set ‘I love you man!’ scene is the equal of any of Knocked Up’s most touching episodes.
The Future
With two surefire success stories appearing within a month of each other, the Apatow comedy confederate have packed schedules. Rogen and Apatow’s next collaboration is The Pineapple Express, due for release in 2008. Written by and starring Rogen, the script sees Rogen back in the stoner mould of Knocked Up. This time he’s on the run having witnessed a police shooting. Apatow stable favourites James (Spiderman 3) Franco and Bill Hader are also on board. Also on the radar for next year is Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Written by Knocked Up discovery Jason Segel, it sees the actor head to Hawaii to get over his ex. Not much is known about this one as yet. But, if this year is anything worth going by, the attachment of the Apatow name is reason enough to get excited.
Knocked Up: Trailers, Cast, Review...
