This Is Always (Film Review: This Is 40)

I was talking to a friend who just had his birthday recently, and we had this deep talk about him having a mid-life crisis of sorts. He just turned a little over forty years old. I thought to myself, did I have one when I turned forty?  I don't remember so, maybe because I never took stock in numeric age. I had no problems accepting aging, as a matter of fact, I spent my fortieth birthday partying with my friends in San Juan, Puerto Rico. But I guess not everyone may feel that way, as evidenced in Judd Apatow's "This Is 40."  I had heard all the worst things imaginable about this movie, so perhaps I was not expecting much, but all in all I enjoyed this and give this a big thumps up. The movie is based on characters from "Knocked Up," but I really do not remember them from the movie, so I'll just scratch that factoid. Pete and Debby (Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann ) are both turning 40. She doesn't want to be reminded of her age, he is throwing a party. So you can kind of see where the characters are. I cannot help but think that this movie is an autobiographical account of Apatow's life. I mean, he cast his muse (Rudd) his wife (Mann) and his real-life kids in this. For all I know, they probably even shot in their house. I thought the humour would be of the raunchy testosterone variety, but whatever it is, I find myself laughing a lot - whether it be when Pete and Debby are adapting therapy talk when fighting, or the boob jokes when Megan Fox is around. And a revelation to me - Fox is funny as hell. In a million years , I would have never thought I would find Fox to be an appealing actress, but there you go. But I understand the quibbles, too. At a hundred and fifty minutes, the film is self-indulgent. I mean, I am sure the same story could be told with less. And yes, the movie can feel like a home movie of an upper white entitled family. I surely am not in that demographic, but I liked the film anyway, so the message could transcend.