Knocked Up is an incredibly hilarious movie about a one-night stand that turns into a pregnancy. From a simple story comes incredibly rich and developed characters and healthy doses of humor and heart. You go to see this movie for the jokes (and I was laughing the entire time), but the staying power rests in the deeper meaning and take-home message about life and love. Unlike other comedies like Hot Fuzz, when this movie tries to make a dramatic point, it feels like part of the movie and not a side note. The flow in this movie as the mood shifts gears is fantastic, aided by excellent music choices. My favorite parts were when people were arguing, because it seemed like that's when the characters were most themselves and the details and subtle mannerisms showed. That was also when I laughed the hardest. The writing in this movie was not exactly brilliant or original, but the stellar acting brought it to life. Being a fan of The Office, I especially loved seeing Darryl from warehouse, Ryan the temp, and Steve Carell make cameos. And Alan Tudyk from Firefly. I especially loved all the references to other movies, not just in dialogue and background sets, but also in plot and shot constructions.
There were some things I didn't like about the movie, although infrequent. First, much of it was simply too graphic. Random boobs were wholly unnecessary. And why they showed a newborn crowning is a mystery to me. A bit out of place in this comedy. Second, many of the side characters and side plots, while very funny, simply took away from the movie instead of adding to it, except in length. Sometimes characters' moods and motivations shifted and changed with little explanation, although it was never too unreasonable. Every so often something you thought was small would turn out to be extremely important and vice versa, which sometimes felt like forcing the plot in a certain direction in an otherwise fluid script. Also, the cinematography and editing were nothing to write home about, not that you would think they might be. All in all, however, a very entertaining movie that's more than just a stupid comedy.IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0478311/