This is 40

A typically erratic Judd Apatow feature, This is 40 follows Knocked Up supporting characters Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) as they’re forced to confront a series of problems in the wake of their respective 40th birthdays. There’s little doubt that This is 40 fares best in its lighthearted and irresistibly affable opening hour, as Apatow does a superb job of initially establishing the various characters and emphasizing their comedic yet authentic exploits – with the compulsively watchable atmosphere heightened by the stellar performances and an ongoing emphasis on laugh-out-loud funny bits of comedy. It’s only as the movie rolls into its progressively uneven midsection that Apatow’s episodic sensibilities begin to become problematic, as the filmmaker, as expected, has infused the proceedings with an almost equal balance of entertaining and needless sequences. (There is, for example, an entire subplot detailing Debbie’s efforts at figuring out which of her two employees is stealing from her that should’ve been excised.) The hit-and-miss atmosphere is increasingly compounded by a palpable lack of laughs that accentuates the flabbiness of Apatow’s bloated screenplay, and there’s little doubt that the movie demonstrably fizzles out by the time it reaches its nigh endless birthday-party-themed finale. One ultimately can’t help but label This is 40 the latest in a long line of watchable yet disappointing efforts from Apatow, with the director’s obstinate refusal to trim the fat from his pictures impeding his ability to move to the next level of filmmaking (ie there’s just so much potential here).

**1/2 out of ****