This Is 40 - 2012 - 3 Stars

Actors: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann
Director:  Judd Apatow

There isn't a great film trapped inside This Is 40, but there's certainly a much better one than what ends up on screen.  Juggling comedy and drama is an Apatow forte, but here he manages to make a film that's tonally all over the place - it doesn't know if it wants to be a well-observed drama about the difficulties of marriage (I was reminded most of Husbands and Wives) or a wacky comedy about same.  Confounding the matter is the service he has to give to the ensemble of recognizable faces - there's almost something Shakespearean about how he gives minutes of this film over to side characters who have no stake in the action.  Rudd and Mann are excellent, and even the Apatow children have difficult scenes and manage them well.  I guess I'd just like to see Apatow make a film without all these people.  If I can be permitted to read into things, I suspect part of the issue with this film is that Apatow got his start in television, where it's awfully hard to let an audience expecting a comedy to go several minutes without laughing.  This could've been an effective drama with several gut laughs instead of a misshapen comedy (still w/ some gut laughs) but whose dramatic elements are scattered.  I'm just not sure Apatow will ever make that kind of film though, and his comedic instincts are not evolving, so I unfortunately expect diminishing returns.