This is 40 begins with shower sex, a celebration for Debbie’s 40th birthday. Oh, yeah. And might I add, “Woohoo! Go, sexy fortysomethings! Show those kids how it’s done!” Then Pete (Paul Rudd) fesses taking Viagra to get a super boner “for his wife”. And Debbie (Leslie Mann) immediately stops. Veteran relationship campaigners will immediately recognize Pete’s mistake – it wasn’t taking the Viagra, it was admitting he took it. You want to explain your need for Viagra to your self-conscious sex partner? Good luck.
This is 40 is a concession film, awesome and depressing all at once. It is a celebration of the freedom middle age brings and a constant reminder of the limitations that accompany it. At one point, Pete reads aloud a study that humans are happiest between ages 40 and 60. Are we supposed to be happiest between ages 40 and 60? Score!! Wait. Huh. I’d better get on that. One of the worst parts of being human is the probable truth of that statement — these are the ages at which you have enough income and remaining health to do what you want — which leads to the worst part in the revelation This is 40 presents: turning 40 kinda sucks.
Despite a drop-dead hilarious trailer, This is 40 is not actually a great deal of fun (aside, that is, from the scenes in which Pete and Debbie get baked at a resort hotel). Most of the rest is like your dentist finding raw nerves or, more aptly (Apatow-ly?), taking a flashlight
to a dumpster to see what scurries around in dark corners. Nobody wants to cop to middle age. Middle age means acceptance and reevaluation. It’s the last realization that your childhood has left and the ability to create the life you dreamed has all but vanished. Nobody wants that message.
Pete spends 80% of his time on the can. He “hides” cupcake consumption. Debbie spends 80% of her time with an incredulous “what the Hell?” look on her face. She “hides” smoking. Both of them have flaky remarried dads (Albert Brooks and John Lithgow). Both of the dads have children younger than those of Pete and Debbie. The concepts are funnier than the payoffs. The objective of the movie is to get Pete and Debbie moving in the right direction, which contradicts the theme of the movie which is that it cannot be done because of the Sartresque Hell they’ve created for themselves. This is a real tough watch for those who have turned the forty corner already, like me.
In a cut-away scene, Leslie is being given a mammogram. This is a classic middle age milieu – mammograms, prostate exams, screening, testing, “did you have that checked out?” Truth is first you have to assure you’re gonna get to 60 before you can begin to appreciate being in the 40-60 range. I point out the exam as a true appreciation of Leslie Mann. It’s not like this is difficult acting – any woman with breasts could play this scene. Heck any man with breasts could play this scene – but it comes with both a heavy price in acceptance and vulnerability. It would be one thing if Mann is playing a woman with cancer – then she gets to act: “OMG! Am I gonna die?!” or maybe something slightly mellower that will bring tears to your eyes for years to come. But this is just a normal exam. There’s nothing sexy about a breast exam. There’s breast exposure, but no titillation. Your average horny teen would sooner get off to National Geographic than a breast exam. And behind it is an actress stating, “I’m at an age where clinical breast exams are of greater importance than, say, sexual breast exams.” That must be death for an actress – pinpointing that moment at which you accepted your career as a romantic lead is over. I’d never thought much of Leslie Mann before. Now I hope I see her four or five times a year.
I look at Pete and Debbie and my first conclusion is, “how can you both have full time jobs a save nothing for your daughter’s college education?” And, of course, if it were that easy, there wouldn’t be any student debt in the country. Pete, for one, is the very worst record producer you’ve ever met. Obsessed with ancient folk rock quasi-legend Graham Parker, Pete decides all of his eggs need to be in that basket. The basket contents don’t even pay for the basket … and Pete is the only one surprised by this news. Sorry kids, hope for that scholarship because daddy stinks at his job. The children, btw, are Judd Apatow’s own. Apatow wrote and directed and the film stars his wife (Mann) and two daughters … how much do you think he identifies with Paul Rudd? The inclusion of daughters is simple nepotism. For this, they deserve no more recognition. And neither does This is 40.
Your teen is a bitch
Your coup is a glitch
Was that a pitch?
This is 40
Your habits control
Sleep is a goal
Sanity is toll
This is 40
Your body is flab
Your wardrobe is drab
Now pick up the tab
This is 40
Rated R, 134 Minutes
D: Judd Apatow
W: Judd Apatow
Genre: Middle age crazy
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Veteran couples
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Kids who will live forever
Since this is an “update” of the film Knocked Up, I would have preferred to see an update on the other characters from Knocked Up. Have the interesting people from the first film drifted away? Is that what being 40 means? That all the interesting characters in your life have bailed? Two and a half stars are too generous!