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Suzanne Hanover/ From left, Iris Apatow, , Paul Rudd and in "." By A. O. SCOTT Published: December 20, 2012 What’s going on with Pete and Debbie? First of all: You remember FACEBOOK Pete and Debbie, don’t you? They were the designated grown-ups played by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann in “,” a movie GOOGLE+ about the accidental conception and hilarious gestation of their niece. The Collection E-Mail If you want an update on that child, who would be in kindergarten SAVE Sign up for the latest in all things fashion from acclaimed critics and reporters of The Times delivered weekly. by now, you won’t find it in “This Is 40,” Judd Apatow’s “sort-of E-MAIL sequel” to the earlier movie and the fourth feature film he has SHARE Privacy Policy directed. (The baby’s parents were played by and PRINT , who have moved on to other things.) REPRINTS MOST E-MAILED MOST VIEWED More About This Movie This one is all about Pete and Debbie, 1. DAVID BROOKS Overview who, along with their two daughters, Suffering Fools Gladly occupy a big white house in one of Los Tickets & Showtimes Angeles’s nicer ZIP codes and who, in 2. Why You Won’t Be the Person You the course of a hectic week, undergo Expect to Be New York Times Review — well, what, exactly? A matched set of midlife crises? A 3. 36 Hours in Philadelphia Cast, Credits & Awards rough patch in their marriage? A flurry of “first-world problems” so trivial as to be an insult to the planet’s Readers' Reviews struggling masses? A seminar in postmodern, postfeminist 4. EZEKIEL J. EMANUEL Trailers & Clips gender politics? Yes, sure, all of that, but to drop their Better, if Not Cheaper, Care troubles into such neat conceptual boxes would be to

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com troubles into such neat conceptual boxes would be to 5. CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK simplify a situation that is both agreeably and annoyingly Refined Titillation, With Breeding as the Watch This Movie messy. Tease

6. PAUL KRUGMAN All of a sudden — and not, you suspect, for the first time — Battles of the Budget Related the stresses of work, parenthood, money and intimacy threaten to add up to something big and scary. Pete’s Judd 7. MOVIE REVIEW | '56 UP' Apatow’s record label is in financial peril, which he hopes the success The British Class Divide, on a Personal Family Scale Business of a new album by the British New Wave stalwart Graham By DAVE ITZKOFF Parker will dispel. Debbie, who owns a boutique, suspects 8. OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR In “This Is 40” Mr. that one of her employees (either or Megan Our Absurd Fear of Fat Apatow is at the helm, his wife, Leslie Mann, and their Fox) is embezzling money. Pete’s father (Albert Brooks) is a daughters are in the cast, and noodge and a sponge, constantly borrowing money from 9. Bringing Exclusivity to Dogs, and the characters have grown up. Owners his grown son to support his do-over lifestyle, which features rambunctious blond triplets. Debbie’s dad (John Related 10. A Series of Poses for Fitness, Inside and Lithgow), who also has a second family, is a chilly, ArtsBeat: Strange Bedfellows: Out Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann on intermittent presence in her life. 'This Is 40' (November 14, 2012) Go to Complete List » Show My Recommendations Enlarge This Image Then there are the adolescent mood swings of Pete and Debbie’s older daughter, Sadie (Maude Apatow), and the skirmishes that break out between Sadie and her irrepressible younger sister, Charlotte (Iris Apatow).

Hovering over all of this hectic business is something vaguer, deeper and sadder: a malaise in Pete and Debbie’s relationship that leads them to question the foundations of Suzanne Hanover/Universal Pictures Ms. Mann and Mr. Rudd in "This is 40." their marriage. In a panic in the wake of a momentous birthday, Debbie embarks on a campaign of family self- improvement, limiting screen time, cooking healthy meals Titillation, with breeding and and nagging everyone into a frenzy that almost matches her own. For his part, Pete manners as the tease clowns, mopes and steals away to the bathroom to play with his iPad. ALSO IN ARTS » Shirley MacLaine joins the cast of "Downton Abbey" Cushioned by comforts that most of their fellow citizens can scarcely imagine, they TV's missed opportunities in 2012 nonetheless feel as if things were starting to go pear-shaped. (Only metaphorically: The nytimes.com Arts two of them are enviably trim, in spite of Pete’s weakness for cupcakes. He bikes a lot.)

“Do you still even like me?” Debbie asks her husband in one of many moments of vulnerability.

An entirely plausible answer would be: Who cares? We’ve all got troubles, sister. But I want to suggest that the movie’s ability to foresee — even to welcome — a hostile or indifferent response counts in its favor. “This Is 40” is an intensely, at times embarrassingly, personal film, by a man who has worked hard, lucked out and wants to share some of his happiness and its attendant worries with the rest of us. Mr. Apatow is, quite literally, showing off his lovely wife (that would be Ms. Mann) and their lively, talented daughters, and if Mr. Rudd is not precisely an alter ego (a description that might equally apply to , Will Ferrell and plenty of other male performers in comedies bearing the Apatow brand), he is at least a plausible place holder. He is nice but not cloying, goofy but not dumb, smart but not snotty, and good-looking in a way that doesn’t make the rest of us feel too bad about ourselves.

Mr. Brooks, a godfather of neurotic, passive-aggressive film comedy, once made a movie called “Defending Your Life.” Mr. Apatow, though he has absorbed some of Mr. Brooks’s deadpan, buried-joke filmmaking style, does not share his penchant for anxious introspection. The social milieu of “This Is 40” is generationally, geographically and professionally adjacent to the one explored by Larry David in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” but any trace of that show’s self-lacerating misanthropy has been filtered out of the Southern air. A gaggle of funny troupers — including Melissa McCarthy, , Chris O’Dowd and — shuffles through the picture, offering up bursts of shtick, but there is more sweetness than cruelty in most of their antics.

In other words, for all its crude jokes and on-the-money observations of the tastes and consumer habits of aging white Gen X-ers (we still love the Pixies!), “This Is 40” should not be mistaken for satire. While it makes fun of some of Pete’s and Debbie’s foibles and blind spots — his immaturity, her neediness, their complementary ways of not listening to

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com each other — it declines to treat the characters as types or to treat their behavior as symptomatic.

The audience, of course, is free to take up the slack, to despise Pete and Debbie, even at the risk of hypocrisy. Look at those two, fretting about money, with a BMW and a Lexus in the driveway, the kids in private school and enough left over for a romantic resort getaway and a lavish catered birthday party.

In a town that runs on philanthropic fund-raisers and celebrity activism, Pete and Debbie support no cause beyond themselves. They are complacent, over-entitled and kind of mean. But the film’s refusal of the detachment that would make them easy targets for judgment is finally a mark of integrity, even generosity. You are brought into a state of intimacy, of complicity, with characters you may find it difficult to like but who, at the same time, require constant affirmation of their goodness.

And they are good, or at least good enough. So is the movie. It snuggles up next to you, breathes in your face, dribbles crumbs on your shirt and laughs at its own jokes. Such proximity makes it easy to notice flaws, and there are a lot of loose ends and a few forced conclusions. But, then again, the acceptance of imperfection is Mr. Apatow’s theme, so a degree of sloppiness is to be expected. That’s life.

“This Is 40” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Sex, drug use, smoking and swearing. They say it’s the new 20.

This Is 40

Opens on Friday nationwide.

Written and directed by Judd Apatow; director of photography, Phedon Papamichael; edited by Brent White; music by Jon Brion; production design by Jefferson Sage; costumes by Leesa Evans; produced by Barry Mendel and ; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 2 hours 14 minutes.

WITH: Paul Rudd (Pete), Leslie Mann (Debbie), (Oliver), (Desi), Charlyne Yi (Jodi), Maude and Iris Apatow (Sadie and Charlotte), Albert Brooks (Larry), Melissa McCarthy (Catherine), Jason Segel (Jason), Chris O’Dowd (Ronnie) and Lena Dunham (Cat).

Watch A. O. Scott with David Carr in “The Sweet Spot,” on culture and criticism, at nytimes.com.

A version of this review appeared in print on December 21, 2012, on page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Happy Birthday, You Miserable Achievers.

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43 Readers' Reviews

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January 2nd, 2013 5:36 pm Rating: 43. This is 40 - NOT Worst movie of 2012 - I agree with all the other posts about the shallowness of this movie. And we DID walk out.

– Diane M, Bellevue, WA

Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers

December 31st, 2012 10:38 am Rating: 42. Played Like a Reality TV Show This movie was dreadful. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann had the on screen chemistry of water and diesel oil and largely read their lines. The script should receive a "Razzie" for all of its unevenness and lack of humor. And PLEASE someone stick a cork in Melissa McCarthy and her tiresome schtick as it is not only vulgar but repetitive. Just how long is she going to be that repulsive bridesmaid. Do your friends a big favor and tell them not to see this movie. This is not 40, I've been there and done that. How does Apatow get something like this financed as I thought that junk bonds were illegal.

– steve hunter, seattle

Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers

December 31st, 2012 10:38 am Rating: 41. A lot like life... Anyone who has had difficulty in their marriage, financial struggles, or angst about aging, can find their itch scratched -- and foibles reflected (albeit in a definitely upscale way) in this gentle comedy. I liked the fact that Apatow resisted the typical happy ending. Instead of hitting it big as the finale, Pete is encouraged by Debbie to sign a decent artist who is in between record labels. That felt right to me. The performances are solid -- especially Leslie Mann, who continues to shine as Hollywood's best and sexiest comedienne. Go see this movie, which is a smart, funny, and good holiday tonic for anyone who has a gray hair or two.

PS Ignore my mistaken click on a rating of poor which I could not correct. This is a GOOD movie!

– John Van Nuys, Crawfordsville, IN

Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers

December 31st, 2012 9:07 am Rating: 40. hollow and shallow Pete and Debbie are so shallow and dishonest that I can't imagine how anyone could care about them, especially for more than two hours. I'm sorry, but they aren't sympathetically "human" characters with "blind spots." Their marital problems stem from the fact that they're narrow- minded, hateful people, and no one notices (except the audience). Also, Apatow's portrayal of how rigidly looks-obsessed everyone is rings so totally false to me. Sure, I get that our culture is looks- obsessed as a whole, but people just don't act the way these characters act. I suppose there are people like Debbie whose devotion to maintaining her perfect body and perfect diet leads her to worry about her looks when she turns 40, but it's not ordinary, relatable, or sympathetic. And the whole idea that love is about "keeping the mystery alive," so that looking at your husband's hemorrhoid is a shocking turnoff but being lied to is not? It's just that mentality, presented as truth, that made this movie totally hollow for me.

I rarely walk out of movies, but I thought many times about walking out of this one. Also, the theater was packed, but no one was laughing.

– Jenny E.M., Cold Spring, NY

Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers

December 31st, 2012 9:07 am Rating: 39. This is "" at the Multiplex A.O. Scott was on target in some ways. I laughed at the movie - thought that it was ridiculous in many ways and the ending was predictable. Albert Brooks was great and so were the kids. At the same time it reminded me of "Modern Family," a top-rated TV comedy about rich people with petty problems. This is an R-Rated version of that show and in many ways more honest about families with money.

– nf, baltimore

Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com December 31st, 2012 9:07 am Rating: 38. . Power to the people! I don't usually read comments by other movie-goers, (and this is the first time I've ever written a comment) but I was so offended by this movie that I logged on to see what other people felt. I feel much better knowing I'm not the only person who found this film incredibly immature, out of touch with most people's experience (I hope!), silly and quite smarmy at times. Apatow has taken the typical plot of many films - a crisis in a relationship and/or family that is essentially resolved at the end of the movie - and thrown in references to modern culture to make the movie seem current - but I think has added in so many inappropriate, repulsive and actually disturbing scenes that for me, the movie was a complete turn-off. After the first few minutes of thinking the film would get better, I found myself mostly just cringing at it. The fact that Hollywood funds this kind of film convinces me that they are really out of touch with the average person, as other reviewers here have commented. Thanks for this opportunity to express my views - I really feel better now! Save your money and don't waste your time on this pathetic film.

– Amy, Portsmouth, NH

Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers

December 29th, 2012 7:50 pm Rating: 37. This is 40 Ugh, no redeeming features. Save your money.

– SherryJ, Washington, DC

Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers

December 29th, 2012 4:52 pm Rating: 36. Painful Just plain offensive. We did not walk out but should have. We kept waiting for something redeeming, but it never came. Yuck!

– Guy, Minneapolis, MN

Recommend Recommended by 4 Readers

December 26th, 2012 4:03 pm Rating: 35. Yuk This is the worst film I have seen this year. None of the characters were real. The movie had very little structure. With all of the profanity and stupid crude humor, it should have been call "this is when I was 13 and saw my first porn movie." Nobody talks like these characatures talk. Nobody acts like the boobs act. Such a talented cast waisted on this drivel. In the verbiage of the film, "this sucked the big one."

– Murfthesurf, Rochester

Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers

December 26th, 2012 10:59 am Rating: 34. Shallow people, shallow film The Judd Apatow franchise specializes in films that emphasize gross out comedy and somewhere towards the end delivers a message with a sledge hammer. Neither approach gives its audience much credit and perhaps I have a hard time giving much credit to this filmmaker or to his characters.

This film is by and about shallow people whose life experiences have yet to make them wiser as they age. If anything, their material success has insulated them from taking an honest look at themselves. When this success appears to be vanishing, they grudgingly start, but they frankly don't know where or how to look. Nor do they really seem to know by the end of the film.

This sounds like it could have been a good movie, but it's not. The film doesn't know that its characters are shallow and believes that they are coming to terms with their issues. We're supposed to believe this because they finally say that they are willing to sell their house and they make first attempts to improve their relationships with their respective fathers. And the wife says that she likes a song that has thoughtful lyrics. Forgive me, but your development is still very much arrested.

In the 80s Lawrence Kasdan made two films about a generation's movement into middle age, The Big Chill and Grand Canyon. Each of these films was able to convey how both age and experience changed people in more subtle and believable terms. Of course, these films weren't "comedies".

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com But they didn't pander to the audience either. And gross out shtick and standup comic dialogue don't pass for character development.

Judd, get a collaborator. In the past few years, many people in this country have faced similar experiences. I doubt that they will relate to your movie.

– phb, bklyn

Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers

December 26th, 2012 10:58 am Rating: 33. Laughed all the way to bed Totally enjoyed this movie..Even my husband watched the film till the very end. Hard thing to do when watching all the Oscar nominee films. Cannot wait to watch it again and laugh out loud..Thank you Judd Apatow

– TIZZYLISH, PARIS, FRANCE

Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers

December 26th, 2012 7:59 am Rating: 32. I'm so glad to hear what a middle-aged guy thinks about this middle-aged movie "He is nice but not cloying, goofy but not dumb, smart but not snotty, and good-looking in a way that doesn’t make the rest of us feel too bad about ourselves."

So clearly this review is written from a male perspective for male readers. I'm sure this movie is really appealing for men of the reviewer's demographic: Apatow's movies are kind of fantasies for average, middle-aged men who want their very ordinary experiences and failings to be privileged and sanctified as some kind of universal experience. Have a beautiful wife but still have a wandering eye? Hey, this is 40. It's normal.

These films really need a critical eye - I would love the NY Times to assign another reviewer who does not have Scott's obvious biases to write on Apatow's films. These movies are really fascinating reflections of how upper middle class men like to see and order their world, despite pretending that in fact they are just being nagged and bullied by their much better looking wives. Why is Apatow's insistence about embracing our imperfections more about women settling for a man child? Why does Scott simply presume (and have no problem with) the fact that the entire movie, despite supposedly presenting life at 40 for everyone, is written solely for "us," that is, men?

I get it. We all like to see movies that are surprising, entertaining reflections of ourselves. But Apatow tells us that mediocrity is okay for men, even totally normal, even endearing. But it is not for women. Women need to have a body like Leslie Mann to approach normal. Women need to cater to a man child while balancing everything else (and hitting the gym for two hours a day). And that's really problematic. This is just basic. Please assign another reviewer.

– Emma, Montreal

Recommend Recommended by 4 Readers

December 26th, 2012 7:58 am Rating: 31. "at the risk of being hypocritical?" hey nytimes! hulloo over there! there's an economic crisis in america and not everyone is gilded in beamers and such. many are struggling for rent. not that rich people can't have problems and make movies about them. fine. more rich people problems porn to throw on the heap, but i just don't think the writer should be quite so disillusioned as to believe that most people reading this will be anything other than disgusted at another white privilege pity party, and not in a hypocritical way either.

– anon, nyc

Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers

December 25th, 2012 1:40 pm Rating: 30. A Revoltingly Solipsistic Exercise in Tedium A.O. Scott has truly embraced the spirit of giving this holiday season. To suggest the movie is good and that "it snuggles up next to you" is like an extravagant gift from Santa no child deserves. And Apatow's foul, unfocused egocentric exercise certainly is childish, if nothing else. And just like a loud, obnoxious child, the movie grows wearisome after the first five minutes. And there are 125 minutes more where that came from. Stay home. And stay away from A.O.'s reviews in the future. He's clearly sold out his integrity, if even just for the holiday season.

– John Smith, New York, NY

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December 24th, 2012 8:59 pm Rating: 29. Perfectly dreadful This is a long, muddled, lazy, extremely sloppy mess of a film. At times I was reminded of how I felt when I was a kid and got stuck watching my uncle's narrated home movies. There's even a form of human product placement with , Billie Joe Armstrong and dropping in, and, of course, all the Apatow mafia, Jason Segel, Chris O'Dowd, Melissa McCarthy and Lena Dunham have to stop by to make the perfunctory appearance. Even poor John Lithgow is annoying in a thankless part. And those poor girls....don't they have Child Protective Services in California?

– cboy, nyc

Recommend Recommended by 4 Readers

December 24th, 2012 8:59 pm Rating: 28. This is 40...% of 'Parenthood' Nowhere near his best, it is the ' Cloud Atlas' of comedies. Sprawling and unfocused it has exactly three relatively brief moments of fun over two + hours. Once you realize that no, there is no larger problem being presented than a couple grappling with low grade ennui, you check out and the movie becomes an endurance test.

– MDBM, CA

Recommend Recommended by 4 Readers

December 24th, 2012 8:56 pm Rating: 27. This is 40? 40 must be the new 19. This is a mess of a movie. Can't wait until the sequel - Wish We Were 70 - where mom and dad are now octogenarians living in a memory unit of a senior citizen home where zaniness ensues. Whoops, I think I just wrote Apatow's next film treatment.

– Bob, Scarsdale

Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers

December 24th, 2012 3:27 pm Rating: 26. Like most Apatow comedies This Is 40 Minutes Too Long.

And did Woody Allen also screen different edits of key scenes to test audiences to see what plays better? I think Apatow is a victim of past failures and unrealistic expectations. I hope he gets a chance to start over.

– BK, Chicago, IL

Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers

December 24th, 2012 10:43 am Rating: 25. Jo I am so happy to read these reviews...I thought the film was boring. The film was poorly constructed....Don't see it...if you do, wait for so you can turn it off...a big waste of an evening...I wanted to laugh but this was not funny....pathetic,,

– jo An, honolulu

Recommend Recommended by 5 Readers

December 24th, 2012 10:43 am Rating: 24. Poor script I wish I could say all the parents were funny but their lines were pathetic. So much ridiculous anger and horrible content. Melissa Mcarthy was great in her 3 minute scene. I like stupid funny movies but this was just bad.

– lurie, Ohio

Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers

December 24th, 2012 10:43 am Rating: 23. Definitely Not Worth It had an opportunity to watch it for free and left half way through. found it dull and painful, and Ms. Mann's voice annoyed me from the beginning. Moments of humor - but not many. And, it was downright offensive at times (Ms Mann berating the student. Really??). There are good comedies - this is not one!

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com – chill528, oakland, ca

Recommend Recommended by 4 Readers

December 24th, 2012 10:43 am Rating: 22. This is a comedy?? This film ignores all the implications of what it portrays. At the end, the record label will likely fail but they'll be rescued! How? By selling their house, now that she's ok with the idea. But then how do they make a living? And what about his father, the moocher? His only contribution to the mess is to say that the other father-in-law should support him. Most troubling, after the heroine berates the boy student in an appalling manner (where's the humor in that?) , is the scene at the principal's office -- our hero and heroine lie about their actions and goad the other mother into a meltdown -- and then are happy about their victory. This is awful -- it isn't humor; it's tragedy. Only the 2 kids are ok -- all the adults are messed up. And the film gives every indication that they will remain messed up. Some comedy.

– Fred P, New Jersey

Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers

December 22nd, 2012 5:07 pm Rating: 21. This movie was 40 times worse than I'd expected. We walked out. My only regret is that we didn't walk out sooner.

– Annie1723, Berkeley, CA

Recommend Recommended by 6 Readers

December 22nd, 2012 5:07 pm Rating: 20. Obnoxious!!! Who is this guy Apatow anyway , William Wyler? A couple of sophomoric comedies and now we have to suffer through his family.This is why Hollywood will eventually go the "way of the west" as internet fragmentation takes over. Obnoxious,Scott hits it on the head. I could care less about one of these dude (out of a million) who makes it.Save your money.

– EJS, Jersey Shore

Recommend Recommended by 4 Readers

December 22nd, 2012 5:07 pm Rating: 19. This Is Gaboikyes I read somewhere that this should be called "This Is 80". Apatow had his couple of winners, now go away.

– Ernie Lamonica, Queens NY

Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers

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