All Knocked Up
Pregnancy is a subject usually treated with the utmost reverence and
seriousness. Not so in the movies - more often than not the imminent birth of a
baby provides fodder for comedy, and more often than not they have crowd
pleaser stamped all over them if this year’s latest Juno is anything to go by.
(Juno will be released on DVD later in 2008).
Knocked Up (2007) took crowning glory last year. A deftly crafted,
laugh out loud, surprisingly intelligent ‘crass’ film, Knocked Up struck a huge
chord with big screen audiences around the world. (No surprises it is doing the
same very same on DVD). It’s a tough story to balance on film: drop dead
gorgeous, upwardly mobile Alison (Grey’s Anatomy’s
Katherine Hiegl) is sick of her romantic drought. She goes out to a
club with her sister, gets hammered and decides Ben (Seth
Rogan) - the nice non-threatening nerdy guy - is totally hot. They
clumsily get jiggy with it on the dance floor, then continue their “dancing”
back at his place, parting ways in the morning never expecting to see each
other ever again…
Only Alison discovers their one-off tryst has had biological consequences: a
baby’s on the way. Which is when Knocked Up stops being so funny and starts
being incredibly intelligent. It becomes an achingly honest look at the
complexities behind having children in “accidental” circumstances.
Interestingly – like Juno - Alison never once questions whether or not to have
the child. The question here is about the future of the relationship between
Alison and Ben – who realise they are worlds apart when they see each other in
the cold harsh light of day. The characters defy expectation and stereotyping
which is why Knocked Up is a dead set excellent - and highly surprising –
comedy.
Raising Arizona (1987) is another unusual baby film, a story about a
man and a woman obsessed with having a baby… So much so that the man (played by
Nicolas Cage) and woman (Holly
Hunter) take matters into their own hands by kidnapping a quintuplet,
figuring she’s sure not to be missed given she’s from an identical set of five
siblings…
H.I. (Cage) is an ex-con and Edwina (Hunter) is an ex-cop; between them they
have the resources and raging love to get them through what is a very high-risk
‘mission’… This sweet crime tale is based on a true crime story and directed by
the inimitable Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan (Fargo, No Country For Old Men).
It is filled with the characteristic eccentricity, cinematic flair and great
performances that make their movies great. And in spite of the somewhat crazed,
zealous protagonists Raising Arizona possesses genuinely moving observations
about the tragedy people feel when children don’t eventuate in their lives…
- Megan
Megan Spencer has spent way too much of her life in the dark, all for a good
cause though - watching movies as a professional film critic. For the last six
and a half years she has been serving the ever-increasing hunger for film and
DVD reviews as radio triple j's resident film critic, and a year ago joined the
new line up of long-running SBS-TV film review program, The Movie Show.
Every now and then she pops up into the light to make her own films,
documentaries (her latest is 'Fantastic Brutality', a documentary about an
obsessed wrestling fan, to be released next year). She has also written about
film for many publications including J-Mag, Limelight, Inside Film Magazine and
the Age Green Guide.
And the impossible question to ask a film critic: what's her favourite film?
"Blue Velvet would be at the top of the list, so would Fight Club... But then
again American In Paris makes me cry every time."
Megan has also been part of the Foxtel's Project Greenlight Australia as an
on-air panelist and judge.
