听 After 2005 sleeper hit The 40 Year-Old Virgin, writer-director Judd Apatow took moviegoers by surprise again with the "superb" comedy Knocked Up. This time Seth Rogen stars as the loser who beds the hot chick (Katherine Heigl) and gets more than he bargained for when she announces she's pregnant.
Swelling Up
Spread across two discs, the 'Extended And Unprotected' edition will give your diaphragm a serious workout, thoracic, that is. It's jam-packed with genuinely funny outtakes, including much more from Ken Jeong as gung-ho gynecologist Dr Kuni ("It's like baseball. We'll get it through the hoop, slam-dunk it and go home.") Jeong takes us on a tour of the set as well, but for more in-depth investigation there's a section of 22 video diaries. It's mostly a chance for Judd Apatow to air his grievances, but Own Wilson also pops up looking "miserable" according to Heigl as she invades the red carpet at the MTV Awards. Insightful.
Apatow butts heads with Capote helmer Bennet Miller in an hilarious backstage mockumentary Directing The Director. The latter takes it upon himself to mentor Apatow, assuring him that it's not all about the jokes. But if Apatow takes exception to this, he does admit to nerves about directing his first sex scene in another tongue-in-cheek featurette. For those who are intrigued by the addition of two 'Topless Scenes', let's just say there's a strong case for the unisex bra...
Knocked About
Apparently the director's biggest challenge was finding the right man to play the lead. "I met a lot of douchebags along the way," he explains the featurette Finding Ben Stone. Among the contenders we see Orlando Bloom refusing to do an Americana accent (not that he can't do it you understand) and James Franco channelling Marlon Brando. Katherine Heigl plays it straight in her audition tape and Apatow justifies casting his own wife and kids in the film with extra b-roll.
More outtakes come in the form of Line-O-Rama where Rogen and co. dispense the zingers at a furious pace. There's also Beard-O-Rama where Martin Starr simply has to take the insults (e.g. "You look like Cat Stevens' gay brother.") Over twenty deleted scenes and alternate takes boost the laughter quotient, like Ben obsessing over birth canals while getting a lap dance, and yet more from Kuni and his smash-and-grab approach to midwifery. Rogen bares his butt (again) in one of three gag reels and if that all sounds a bit traumatic, you can chill out with American folk musician Loudon Wainwright recording the album Strange Weirdos.
Groaning at the seams with bonus footage, this two-disc package is like a pregnant woman in lycra. Be warned: your sides are in danger of splitting.
EXTRA FEATURES
Knocked Up DVD is released on Wednesday 26th December 2007.
