This Is 40

I like Paul Rudd as an actor, but I hadn't seen this one until recently. In This Is 40, Rudd plays Pete, married to Debbie (Leslie Mann), and together they're navigating the chaos of turning 40, with two bickering daughters, difficult parents (one who reappears after years, another who mooches off his son), and two struggling small businesses: Pete's record label and Debbie's boutique, which is losing money thanks to a thieving employee.

The movie touches on a lot of real-life issues for people in their 40s; family stress, financial trouble, marital strain, but here's the problem: every scene tries too hard to be hilarious. The jokes are fine, but few actually land as big laughs. And most of the problems the characters face? They just float around and quietly vanish without being resolved.

There's no real momentum, just scene after scene of midlife stress, minor arguments, and awkward family dynamics. Megan Fox makes an appearance and while she's certainly watchable, even her role doesn't seem to know what it's supposed to be. That kind of sums up the film: lots of loosely connected threads, but no clear direction or payoff.

It's not bad. It's not great. Watching it is just as okay as skipping it. Mildly entertaining, mildly frustrating; a bit like turning 40, I guess.

Pete (Paul Rudd) is a family man married with Debbie (Leslie Mann) and they have two daughters, the teenager Sadie (Maude Apatow) and the girl Charlotte (Iris Apatow). Paul and Debbie, who lies about her age, are turning 40 and they are planning a party for Paul. He lost his job in Sony and now he has a nostalgic record label with only one artist, the British rock singer and songwriter Graham Parker that was successful in the period from the 60's to the 80's. Debbie has a fashion store with two employees, and she has just found an embezzlement of US$ 12,000.00. She was poisoned by the inefficient Jodi (Charlyne Yi) and suspects of the productive saleswoman Desi (Megan Fox).

Debbie has issues with her estranged father Oliver (John Lithgow) while Pete secretly supports his idle father Larry (Albert Brooks). Debbie meets her father and invites him for the party. Pete comes to the edge with the bankruptcy since he needs to sell their home and Debbie finds that she is pregnant but she hides from Pete. In the party, Pete has a nervous breakdown but Debbie is there to help him.

"This is 40" is a dramatic comedy about relationship, modern marriage and mid-life crisis. I believe that every viewer that is more than forty years old and married with children will identify problems that he or she might have lived. There are many hilarious scenes and references to movies and shows but also moments of drama that are immediately relieved by a joke. It is also funny because I have recently watched all the 117 episodes (and not 114) of "Lost" in five weeks, the same way Sadie did. Just as a curiosity, Leslie Mann is married with the director and writer Judd Apatow and the two girls (Maude and Iris) are their daughters. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Bem-vindo aos 40" ("Welcome to the 40")

I think I know my issue with Judd Apatow's movies.

They're always overdrawn. I think Apatow is a true Auteur, and has intelligent, stylish ways of telling a story.

Like almost all his flicks, this movie has laughs, heart and drama.... A LOT of drama.

Apatow should either write, or direct his movies, not both. I have a feeling if someone else took the directors chair/ producers chair, the movie would be significantly shorter.

I don't mind drama in movies, but when the extra hour of the movie is filled up with only drama, then I become irritated.

This is a movie you should rent/watch on Netflix. The writing and direction are both good, but you need to pace yourself, take breaks, come back later after getting some air, because 2.5 hours is to long for a movie like this.

This is all my opinion of course, so take it or leave it.

Regardless of anything, enjoy your night out at the movies, you earned it!

This is 40 is a complete surprise. A straight-forward slice of life that follows its protagonists as they cross the great, unseen barrier into their fifth decade, the film is naturally funnier, more poignant, and more engaging than might be expected. With laughter coming from the both the banalities of life and its heavier moments, the film rarely sinks into caricature and keeps tone-killing silliness to a minimum.

While I'm in my 40s I am single and childless but I hear enough stories from people around me (same age, middle class Californians) to know this movie is actually touching on what are real world situations for some people. So I didn't feel like there was much overdramatization as most critics point out. I also didn't feel like it was too long as I did enjoy the story, dialogues, etc. So I didn't think it felt drawn out. At the end of the day, most of the jokes work, plot and characters are engaging, and so there is enough to enjoy despite having nothing extremely original to rave about.