By Robert Scucci
| Published
One of the most off-putting aspects of Judd Apatow’s This is 40 is how he decided to cast Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann, two people who are seemingly incapable of showing any signs of aging. Aside from that, this “sort-of sequel” to Knocked Up has legs, and is one of the better raunchy rom-coms from the 2010s because of its believable family dynamic. Well, by “believable,” I mean that as somebody who’s married and on the wrong side of 30, I’ve experienced similar squabbles with my better half about how hectic life is, and how sometimes I have to make executive decisions with the kids when she’s not around that may not be so well-received.
However, This is 40 makes me wonder who two partners, both with failing businesses, are able to afford such a lavish lifestyle that includes a massive suburban house, personal trainers, and the ability to go on expensive romantic getaways (in the BMW that they own) when they can allegedly barely afford to pay the mortgage.
But if I’m willing to suspend disbelief while watching movies like The Rock, then I guess I could be a little forgiving because This is 40 is full of snappy dialogue and some too-close-to-home exchanges that are mostly believable.
A Family In Distress
This is 40 starts out with a bang, literally, as Paul Rudd’s Pete gets an earful after revealing to his wife, Debbie (Leslie Mann) that he took a Viagra before engaging in a steamy shower session. This opening scene establishes the relationship dynamic between Pete and Debbie perfectly because it illuminates just how terrible they are at communicating with each other.
Pete, who’s clearly attracted to his wife, simply thought that popping the special little blue pill would add some excitement to their sex life as they both approach their 40th birthdays in the aptly titled This is 40. Debbie, on the other hand, feels insecure over the fact that Pete needs pharmaceutical assistance to get the job done because the subtext she’s picking up on is that she’s becoming less attractive as she gets older.
While both Pete and Debbie are trying their best to manage their household, and raise their two daughters, 13-year-old Sadie (Maude Apatow) and 8-year-old Charlotte (Iris Apatow), they constantly get in their own way because they’re both headstrong and neurotic in their own very unique ways – Debbie is a control freak who tries to be friends with her children while also ruling the house with an iron fist, while Pete approaches parenting in a more relaxed way while constantly dunking on everybody’s taste in music and sneaking cupcakes from the outside garbage bin despite his high cholesterol.
Financial Stress Will Ruin Anybody’s Day
At the center of This is 40, outside of the household dynamic, Pete is struggling to make his failing record label turn a profit. Pete, who’s out of touch with what’s hip, thinks that a Graham Parker & the Rumour reunion will get his company out of the red, but struggles to sell 1,000 downloadable copies of their new album. To make matters worse, Pete has been financially supporting his father, Larry (Albert Brooks), who somehow has young triplets.
Debbie’s fashion boutique in This is 40 is not without issues either, as one of her employees has been skimming funds from the bank roll to the tune of $12,000. While both Paul and Debbie are trying to fight these battles independently, their marriage gets put on the rocks when Debbie visits the family accountant and finds out how dire their situation actually is.
Can’t Blame Them For Trying
Though the above mentioned issues are enough to make any sane person want to drive their bicycle off a cliff, This is 40 shines because of just how accurately its principal characters cope with their sources of stress. Not only are Pete and Debbie trying to keep their marriage afloat even though they’re hardly ever in each other’s corner on the home front, they form an unbreakable alliance whenever they need to step up and actually be good parents to their children. Even when you think that This is 40 is going to end in divorce, and there’s no reason to believe otherwise, Pete and Debbie are a force of nature when they find out Sadie is being bullied at school by a kid that looks like a factory-second Tom Petty.
What’s more, there’s one shining moment in This is 40 when Pete and Debbie are able to sneak away from home for a romantic getaway, and they have a wholesome laugh while discussing how they’d kill each other if ever pushed to the point of no return, which is a conversation that most married friends my age – especially the ones who are into true crime – have had with each other at some point in time for the fun of it.
Better Than Critics Would Lead You To Believe
Surprisingly, This is 40 only boasts a 52 percent critical score against a 50 percent Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes, with its most common criticism being about its 133-minute runtime. While I’m typically a fan of a tight, 90-minute movie, I didn’t personally think This is 40 dragged on at all, because it’s a slice-of-life kind of film. Marriage, and raising a family is the most exciting, terrifying, and rewarding thing anybody could do, but there are also meandering moments that are so mind-numbingly boring that you occasionally need to sneak into the bathroom to play Candy Crush in order to feel alive.
While you may not appreciate how This is 40 captures the mundane moments, these small, unassuming exchanges add value to the movie because it makes everything seem real.
As of this writing, you can stream This is 40 on Netflix.
