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35 Things We Learned From the ‘Knocked Up’ Commentary

Knocked Up
By  · Published on October 6th, 2011

It’s time to crank up the Ol’ Dirty Bastard, imbibe in your favorite – LEGAL – activity, and start the baby making. In this week’s Commentary Commentary, we’re hitting up one of the best comedies of the past 10 years, Knocked Up. Aside from being one of the dozen films that have made Judd Apatow a vigintillionaire, apart from being the film that landed Seth Rogen on the A-list, the movie is just damned funny. Heart-warming, of course. What would an Apatow movie be without heart? Well, it would probably be You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, but we’re not even going to mention that abomination here. Just ignore that previous utterance of the title.

Anyway, back to Knocked Up, Apatow has amassed a solid line-up for his commentary track. Rogen and co-star Bill Hader are on board to deliver their own stories and insight into the making of the film. Something tells me the commenting under the influence didn’t stop with last week’s movie. That Rogen sure likes to partake. He’s always stoned. And funny. Mostly funny. But one might have a hand in the other. So here’s what we learned from the commentary track to Knocked Up. Cue the ODB!

Knocked Up (2007)

Commentators: Judd Apatow (writer, director, money maker), Seth Rogen (executive producer, actor), Bill Hader (actor), a slew of annoying impressions.

Best in Commentary

“That’s the meltdown of having kids. You realize if you don’t get your shit together, they’re gonna start imitating how fucked up you are, and then you have a meltdown, and then you get better.” – Judd Apatow

“I like the idea of people being on drugs as a way to get them to say things that are unspeakable.” – Judd Apatow

Final Thoughts

There really isn’t much insight to be gleamed from the Knocked Up commentary track. Instead you’ll get three friends just hanging out and discussing for over two hours real things in their lives that inspired this movie. There are also moments all the way throughout with all three riffing on a certain topic whether it has any bearing on the actual film or not. Some might find this entertaining, but I found it tedious and thoroughly uninteresting.

We hear Apatow ask Bill Hader if he would ever do a nude scene, how much each commentator cussed when they were a kid, are subject to Apatow scatting through a Steely Dan song, and all the real life moments in Apatow’s life that inspired particular scenes in the film. Did you know Seth Rogen has “literally” seen every episode of Lost? Well, here you have it.

Add in Apatow having Hader do ridiculous impressions, something that thankfully dies out before the halfway mark, and you’ve got a commentary track that annoys more than entertains, that grates rather than informs. Knocked Up is a funny movie. Seth Rogen and Bill Hader are funny actors. However, in this context, hearing them in their natural state and observing all of this from the outside looking in is nothing short of dull. Now I need a smoke. Too bad Seth Rogen won’t be joining me.

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