This is 40 a family affair for Apatow- Mann clan
Leave it to Judd Apatow to make an R-rated family film.
The apparent contradiction makes sense if you consider This is 40 counts as a spinoff to Apatow’s raunchy 2007 hit Knocked Up.
Opening Friday, the new movie takes place five years after Knocked Up as we catch up with Debbie (Leslie Mann) and Pete (Paul Rudd), whose upper-middle-class life is going through a major transition.
Their marriage is rocky, their two daughters are angry and Debbie’s clothes shop and Pete’s indie record company are struggling through the recession.
Add to the multiple dysfunctions the fact that Debbie is not doing well coming to grips with turning 40, which she steadfastly denies.
Although the movie is part autobiographical, Apatow said he was hoping for universal laughs and not necessarily self-revelations when he shot the sequel.
“It’s really a soup of what everybody is going through,” said the director, sitting beside his wife Mann in a Toronto hotel suite recently.
The Apatow-Mann clan is also proudly represented by co-starring appearances from their two daughters, Maude, 14, and Iris, 10, who return to play Debbie and Pete’s daughters. They had cameos in Knocked Up but are required to do a lot more in This is 40, with generally positive results.
Indeed, their parents have already received offers for both of them to be in other movies, which is a dilemma Mom and Dad weren’t anticipating.
“We never thought, ‘What if they are good?” admitted Apatow looking at his wife. “We just didn’t want them to be bad. We didn’t mean for them to be so good.”
Apatow shrugged. “They take after their mother.”
It’s a well-earned compliment since Mann and Rudd are the driving force in the comedy with support from the kids as well as Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, Jason Segel, Megan Fox and Melissa McCarthy.
Awkward or not, Apatow has his wife go topless in some sequences all in the name of getting chuckles.
“It was probably my idea,” said Mann. “It’s not just about the laugh. If (nudity) seems right, it can be an added plus to the scene.”
Mann has done that for her director-husband more than a few times. Besides Knocked Up, she had memorable moments in Funny People and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and she guest-starred on his cult TV series Freaks and Geeks 12 years ago.
So they are accustomed to bringing their work home, but they agreed This is 40 was all-consuming.
“When I am working with Judd it does get a little tricky,” said Mann. “This time we didn’t stop talking about the film.”
Having their daughters play more prominent parts should have added to the intensity, but Apatow said they handled the stress better than their parents.
“They were excited there was food everywhere,” said their director-dad of on-set food tables available to cast and crew. “And they really liked the people they were with.
“And, they understand they are acting, so they can get fully into yelling or crying, then when the scene is over they drop it, and go looking for the M&Ms.”
It helped, too, that Rudd is a close family friend. In fact, some of the movie’s themes come from his experiences as a husband and father. “I’d say to him, ‘So what are you arguing about today?’” said Apatow of prepping the script.
Many of Rudd’s recollections ended up in the movie. Others were from Apatow-Mann disagreements recalled “in loving detail.” Either way, the director said he was fortunate to have Mann and Rudd acting them out.
“They are so likable they can go at each other really hard but you still like them,” explained Apatow.
The anxiety of turning 40 is all about Mann who reached the benchmark last March and didn’t like it.
“It was a tough time for me and my girlfriends,” Mann said. “It’s a new phase in your life because it’s the end of your 20s and 30s, and you’re not a slave to your kids as much, and you’re not sure what’s going to happen.”
Apatow continued: “And your wife starts realizing her kids will be leaving home soon, but you’re not, and she’s going to have to start hanging out with you more.”
“And making the choice not to have more kids makes you think the next step is to be old,” said Mann. “Then you get grey hairs and wrinkles, and you start looking for older women to guide you with wise words, but they never show up.”
Meanwhile, the incorporation of a rock music theme is all about Apatow. He related to English musician Graham Parker — he shows up in a cameo — who had a loyal following during his heyday in the 1970s and 1980s but never sold a lot of albums.
“I’ve always had compassion for people like Graham who deserve a wider audience because I felt like that for Freaks and Geeks,” said Apatow of his first series that was cancelled after one season.
By all reports, This is 40 will enjoy a better fate.