Judd Apatow was on a roll. The co-creator of Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared transitioned into features with The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. His producer’s credits were smoldering, ranging from Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall to Step Brothers and the Oscar-nominated Bridesmaids. Admittedly, Funny People was a bit of a miss (critically and commercially), but Apatow looks to be back on the right track with This is 40, his latest directorial effort. Here’s the new trailer (courtesy of iTunes):
Described as the “sort-of sequel to Knocked Up,” the movie features the sort-of happily married couple Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann played in that comedy, only they are approaching the Big 4-0 and re-evaluating all of the decisions they made over the course of their relationship.
I don’t think anyone’s going to complain about being able to spend more time with Rudd and Mann as an on-screen couple. And the material seems about as personal for Apatow as it does for its target audience (that’s me, raising my hand as I inch closer to 40 than I am to 30). The tone of the trailer goes more for “Inspirational” – with the use of Fun’s We Are Young as its soundtrack – than laugh-out-loud funny, but this appears to be more in Apatow’s backyard than Funny People. The trailer looks great.
This is 40 co-stars Jason Segel, Lena Dunham, Melissa McCarthy, Chris O’Dowd and a mirror that gets far too close to Rudd’s genitalia. It will be in theaters on Dec. 21.
