This is 40 (2012) - Judd Apatow

Pete and Debbie are married with two daughters living in suburbia Southern California.  Both Pete and Debbie have just turned 40 years old, which for them signifies the moment where their lives drift into complacency and they become too old to function.  The stresses of life have certainly put a strain on their relationship with financial and intimacy issues threatening to tear them apart for good.  Judd Apatow's This is 40 is more drama than comedy, attempting to show a intimate portrait of this couple struggling to accept their age in Southern California.  This is 40 has the same problem as nearly all of Apatow's films in that its length isn't justified, yet the film isn't as fat as some of his other recent work.  While I was watching This is 40 I found myself impressed early on with how much Judd Apatow has matured as a writer.  The film felt more genuine in the beginning but as it progressed I realized Apatow hasn't completely been able to separate himself from the juvenilities of his writing.  Don't get me wrong I like that humor at times, but this was a film where genuine drama and silly comedy were out of rhythm.  The strongest aspect of This is 40 is Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann's chemistry.  The two of them play off each other so well that it carries the film for stretches solely responsible with keeping you invested.  As a matter of fact, the entire cast really is fantastic with Albert Brooks and Jonathan Lithgow being particularly great as the two fathers of Paul and Debbie respectively.  This is 40 is most likely Judd Apatow's most mature film to date but he has still yet to succeed in making a film that truly touches the viewer on a personal level while making them laugh.
6.25/10

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