This is 40 (Date Night with My Sister)

Plot: Five years after writer/director Judd Apatow introduced us to Pete and Debbie in 'Knocked Up', Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reprise their roles as a husband and wife both approaching a milestone meltdown in 'This is 40', an unfiltered, comedic look inside the life of an American family. via. 

Nicole's Rating: C+

Nicole's Review: My parents suggested my sister and I watch this while I was home visiting this past weekend. They had rented it and were excited to exclaim, repeatedly, that they had it for another 24 hours. We should watch it, they said. 

It's difficult to review a movie like This is 40 when I was so clearly not the target audience. I'm pushing 30,  I'm unmarried, I don't have kids. I don't get it because I can't. Whereas, for my parents - here's a movie that depicts how hard it is to be married. How you can really hate and love a person simultaneously. My parents were able to laugh because they'd been there. I haven't been anywhere. 

Instead, I related more to the kids- who are played by Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann's real life children. I can remember listening to my parents fight through walls and it can be terribly frightening and confusing. Maudie and Iris Apatow were phenominal in this movie. 

Matt isn't really a fan of Judd Apatow. He thinks the man is self-serving and sacrifices story for self-promotion. I don't have a problem with the guy. 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up are two movies that consistently make me laugh. Having seen and liked Knocked Up, I was excited to revisit Pete and Debbie in This is 40. The movie had its moments - Paul Rudd can do no wrong and Leslie Mann can hold her own as well. It was the explorations of the ups and downs of a marriage, and it definitely did what it set out to do. Made me sporadically laugh and occasionally cry.

But I can not for the life of my figure out WHY the movie needed to be over two hours long! There was absolutely no need for it and it made an otherwise decent movie drag on to the point where any reasonable person would turn it off and walk away. Less is more, Mr. Apatow. Less is more.