Judd Apatow emerges as comedy maestro

“Knocked Up,” also written by Apatow, is very personal for him. Though the film — in which Rogen plays an immature pothead who has parenthood thrust upon him after a one-night stand with a far more professional woman (Katherine Heigl) — isn’t directly autobiographical, the issues of facing adulthood are familiar to the director.

Further, much of Apatow’s life can be seen on screen. His wife, actress Leslie Mann, co-stars; their two young daughters play her character’s children; Ramis symbolically plays a wise father to Rogen; and a good number of the actors from his past TV shows and movies have notable parts or make cameos.

Mann, whom Apatow met while working on the Jim Carrey movie “The Cable Guy,” says that while everything in “Knocked Up” has been reflected against a “funhouse mirror,” much of it is culled from their relationship. For example, the scene where Allison (Heigl) boots Ben (Rogen) from the car while driving to the gynecologist was taken directly from an argument of theirs.

Frequently working with his close-knit troupe of friends and actors, Apatow’s style is heavy on improvisation and collaboration. The famous “You know why I know you’re gay?” running bit in “Virgin” was improvised, and “Knocked Up” provides a similar gag based on a setup of “You look like...” to describe an extremely hairy character (Martin Starr).

A recently released two-disc DVD edition of “Virgin” includes footage of Apatow relentlessly shouting new lines to his actors as they riff their way through a scene — a method he calls “rewriting while the cameras are rolling.” Apatow also holds numerous screenings of early cuts of his films for filmmaker friends in hopes of garnering feedback.

“What really sets him apart is just how collaborative he is, and how confident in yourself you have to be in order to be collaborative and take ideas from your actors and your friends,” says Rogen, who was a teenager when Apatow cast him in “Freaks and Geeks.”

Film will need word-of-mouth
“Knocked Up,” which was completed in February, arrives in theaters on a sizable wave of buzz, aided by very early screenings to critics and press. As a relatively low-budget film starring the little-known Rogen, it’s a film that needs substantial word-of-mouth to compete with summer blockbusters.

The low-cost, laugh-heavy approach has proven appealing to studios; “Virgin” grossed $109 million at the box office on a production budget of $26 million. “Knocked Up,” rated-R like “Virgin,” is also in the same budget range and was well received by Universal Pictures, Apatow says.

“They may have just been happy that I didn’t ask for triple the budget and robots,” he deadpans.

Another key to his success is that he’s largely been able to keep creative control of his films. Mann says he passed on numerous films before making “Virgin.” Now, after years of unsold scripts pilling up, Apatow’s projects are getting the green light.

Besides “Superbad,” this year will also see the release of another Apatow production, “The Pineapple Express,” which was written by Rogen. Next year will be “Walk Hard,” a mock biopic in the style of “Ray” starring John C. Reilly and “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan,” which Apatow co-wrote with Sandler.

“It’s almost more than a Jew from Long Island can handle,” Apatow says of his good fortune. “All my assumptions about myself are confused when people like the work. On some level, it’s almost more comfortable for it to go the other way.”

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