This Is 40 Reviews

Our Review

'Don't tell her you took Viagra'

Paul Stock, MovieFix

I can hear my joints click when I walk. I've just turned 38. It's the same age Debbie (Leslie Mann) pretends to be ahead of her 40th birthday in This Is 40, as if 38 was that much less like being middle-age.

Goodness knows what state I'll be in in a couple of years. But if director Judd Apatow's spin-off from 2007's Knocked Up is anything to go by, turning 40 is the moment middle-class lives are supposed to either fall apart or into place.

While Debbie is struggling with her age she's oblivious to the mess husband Pete (Paul Rudd) is hiding from her. He's turning 40 too. Together they're too financially over-committed to afford midlife crises but Debbie doesn't know this. She's busy reconnecting with her family, including her estranged father (John Lithgow), and envying the body of one of the assistants in her boutique (Megan Fox).

Twenty years ago these 40-year-olds might've bought sports cars and had affairs with much younger people who like shiny things. But Debbie and Pete don't have the cash for any of that. Instead, they're banning cupcakes, abusing Viagra, joking about murdering one another and trying to relaunch the careers of borderline retiree rock stars (Graham Parker).

They somehow maintain the facade of the perfect couple while saying hurtful (albeit hilarious) things behind closed doors. Problem is, so much of the film is spent establishing how charming and in love Pete and Debbie are, it's difficult to believe they won't overcome whatever troubles Apatow throws at them. And the reality of the first crisis seems to arrive too late in the narrative.

Twenty minutes could've been cut from the first half and at the same time killed off complaints about the length of the 134-minute comedy. But for much of that time you're likely to be laughing at the cutting humour and cringing at the vulgar subject matter. Middle-age never looked more like youth. But maybe that's just a lie 38-year-olds tell themselves.

Your Reviews

Gloria smith

Great movie but too many f bombs and the c word really turned me of. And a bit to graphic they could have toned it down bait.

Terri

i was actually looking forward to seeing it but was a bit of a flop for me.. some funny parts but again if i wanted to watch people fight and feel awkward i would have stayed home.

Kim

Loved it! great cast and it had me in stitches lol

awful/uncouth/despicable movie, should have been censored......

Lorretta blewitt

5 out of 5 so funny! It reminded me of my house minus the BMW and Lexus.

Christie Dane

This movie is that you still gotta love your family even if sometimes you wanna make them go away it is a comedy film and is enjoyable to watch.

Sharon

I loved the movie would of been good if we saw Katherine Hiegel in it also as she played her sister in the first one but for those women who have reached the 40 mark or about to will relate well to this movie very funny

Like being forced to watch your "zany - hip" friends' home movies, except no one thinks they're "zany" or "hip." These labels were self applied because gosh darn it....their lives are just so crazy kooky and interesting sometimes! At the one hour mark you're desperately trying to escape their living room, but: "Wait! A really funny part is coming up!" At 90 minutes: "You have to see what our daughter said here! You won't believe how wise she is. And she's only eight!" At two hours they start offering up deep insights like: "Men use the bathroom to hide from the family!" "Teenagers spend to much darn time on the internet and texting! Am I right people or what?!" Then at two hours and thirteen minutes their camcorder battery finally...mercifully....dies....and before they can get the spare one from the closet.... everyone bolts for the door. Watching "This is 40" was like that. We don't hate these people, they are our friends after all...but no one finds them, their kids or their lives half as interesting as they do. Thankfully in the real world most of these couple can't afford to release their home movies nation wide like Apatow can.

Add a review

My Rating

Name

Movie Buzz

Last:

24 hours

7 days

The most anticipated movies on MovieFix

Biggest Movers

What is Movie Buzz?

MovieBuzz rates which movies are trending within the MovieFIX community.

You can choose if you "Want to see" or are "Not Interested" in seeing the movie on the Homepage trailer player, or in the Movie Information page. After 20 votes, we tally these scores and create a percentage of how many people "Want to see" that movie.

We then take these scores and display the highest percentages in MovieBuzz. MovieBuzz only features movies from their trailer release to two weeks after they have released in cinemas. You can see the rankings on a 24 hour or a 7 day basis (use the radio buttons near the title to switch views).