Tell us what you thought of 'This is 40'
Judd Apatow's latest hits theaters this weekend
Megan Fox and Leslie Mann in "This is 40"
Credit: Universal Pictures
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I've been a little dismayed at the critical reaction to Judd Apatow's "This is 40" (one of Drew McWeeny's top 10 films of the year.) It feels like some had the knives out. I'm not a worshiper of the man's work or anything but his latest is, to me, his richest film to date. Perhaps it's about relating to it or not, I don't know. In any case, I'd love to hear your thoughts, so cut loose with your take in the comments section below when/if you get around to seeing the film. And feel free to rate it above.
Kristopher Tapley has covered the film awards landscape for over a decade. He founded In Contention in 2005. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Times of London and Variety. He begs you not to take any of this too seriously.
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2012-2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS
UPDATED: FEB 25, 2013
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup And Hairstyling
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupPaul Outlaw
December 22, 2012 at 3:38PM EST Reply to CommentYou're right, Kris, it is Apatow's "richest film to date." That said, the bar was pretty low, considering his best feature so far (as director) was his first, IMO. This one is again too long and indulgent, but it's well acted and often painful to watch for the right reasons. Too bad about those Golden Globes snubs.
CaptainCanada
December 22, 2012 at 8:29PM EST Reply to CommentI liked it a lot, on the whole.
Apatow is certainly not a particularly disciplined filmmaker, as the frequent complaints about his editing (or alleged lack thereof) attest.. It would indeed be easy to cut this film down noticeably (the Megan Fox stuff would be the easiest excision), but I was never bored watching, so even if Apatow's style tends toward indulging in tangents, I didn't think it a big detriment. Particularly since the film is more observational than plot-based to begin with.
While some of those tangents are funnier than others, the stuff with the core characters was well-done pretty consistently.
Frank Lee
December 22, 2012 at 11:41PM EST Reply to CommentAs has been note, the film is quite poorly edited. I mean, even within individual scenes. The doctor telling Emily Mann that he knows how old she is by counting her rings isn't on screen when he delivers his punch line. Instead we get a non-reaction shot from Mann. Dumb. But the flm has some funny lines, and the leads are fine.