Throughout the 2000s, Judd Apatow pioneered his own particular brand of film comedy that changed the genre forever. Apatow’s comedies have a hard-R sensibility, but they’re also surprisingly sweet, subversively mixing raunchy laughs with genuine feels. Apatow established this style with his first movie: the high-concept tale of a middle-aged virgin trying to get laid. Audiences expected the laughter; they didn’t expect to be moved by the love story.
Some of Apatow’s movies, like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, hold up to more viewings than others, like Funny People and the recently released COVID farce The Bubble. Trainwreck and The King of Staten Island each offer a glimpse into the mind of a beloved comedian, but This is 40 plays more like a horror movie than a comedy.
The Bubble (2022)
Apatow’s most recent movie, The Bubble, only arrived on Netflix a couple of months ago, so time will tell how rewatchable it is. But based on first impressions, it doesn’t look good. The Bubble received the worst reviews of Apatow’s career, and his first “rotten” score on Rotten Tomatoes.
It doesn’t help that the movie is set at the height of the pandemic, an era that audiences won’t want to revisit any time soon. In mid-2022, The Bubble was far too late satirizing COVID, full of tired two-year-old gags about mask mandates and social distancing.
Funny People (2009)
Apatow’s third directorial feature, Funny People, was his first box office bomb. Tonally, it strikes an interesting blend of comedy and drama, but it’s let down by its taxing two-and-a-half-hour runtime.
Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen share terrific chemistry as a terminally ill comedian and the up-and-coming comic he takes under his wing. Funny People is an authentic look at the standup circuit from a comedian-turned-filmmaker, but it goes off the rails when the duo goes to stay with the veteran standup’s old flame and her daughters.
This Is 40 (2012)
Apatow’s fourth movie, This is 40, is a spin-off from Knocked Up (dubbed a “sort-of sequel” on the posters) exploring the fan-favorite Pete and Debbie characters a few years down the line. This is 40 has another bloated runtime over two hours, and it errs more on the side of drama than comedy.
This movie has the uncompromising brutality of Scenes from a Marriage. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann are always a joy to watch, but the marital struggles of This is 40 play more like a horror movie about the futility of long-term cohabitation than a fun comedy about family life.
Trainwreck (2015)
After This is 40, Apatow stepped away from writing his own material and instead focused on bringing other comedians’ stories to life. He started by giving Amy Schumer her first big-screen starring vehicle, Trainwreck, drawn from her own screenplay.
Schumer’s cinematic debut tells the story of a hard-partying young woman who struggles to settle into her first serious relationship with an NBA doctor played by Bill Hader. Trainwreck flips every romcom cliché on its head, and Schumer and Hader’s on-screen dynamic is endlessly watchable.
The King Of Staten Island (2020)
Following the success of Trainwreck, Apatow teamed up with another promising comedic mind to tell their semi-autobiographical story. Pete Davidson borrowed from his own life for The King of Staten Island, about an aimless young tattoo artist who’s forced to grow up when his widowed mother starts dating a firefighter, the same profession as his late father.
Davidson shares fantastic chemistry with Maude Apatow as his sister, Marisa Tomei as his mom, and Bill Burr as her hot-tempered new boyfriend. Like most of Apatow’s movies, The King of Staten Island is too long and it doesn’t know how to end. But its characters are so endearing and their relationships feel so real that the overlong runtime is a minor complaint.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
Apatow’s first movie still holds up as one of his best. The spontaneous, semi-improvised dialogue of The 40-Year-Old Virgin changed the face of film comedy. It established the defining hallmark of Apatow’s filmmaking: crude R-rated comedy with a subversive dose of sweetness. Steve Carell became a world-renowned star overnight with the double whammy of his hysterical lead performance in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and his turn as Michael Scott in The Office, which premiered around the same time.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin has a raunchy high-concept premise about a sexually inactive middle-aged man trying to get laid for the first time. Audiences didn’t anticipate how much the movie would make them feel. Apatow sets up an American Pie-style sex romp, then delivers a surprisingly moving love story.
Knocked Up (2007)
Apatow nailed his unique combination of raunch and sweetness with his second movie, Knocked Up, about a one-night stand that turns into an unplanned pregnancy and the complicated relationship that ensues. Knocked Up has a ring of authenticity, because according to Shortlist, Apatow based the script on his and Leslie Mann’s experiences surrounding the birth of their first daughter.
This was the movie that proved Seth Rogen could carry his own starring vehicle. Knocked Up strikes Apatow’s signature naturalistic blend of comedy and drama. The riffs are hilarious, but the arguments cut deep. This movie never gets old. It’s an emotional rollercoaster with a happy ending.
