This Is 40 MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 Content: -4

Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Albert Brooks, Megan Fox, John Lithgow, Jason Segel. A very bawdy comedy. Written & directed by Judd Apatow.

FILM SYNOPSIS:Writer/director/producer Judd Apatow expands the story of Pete and Debbie from his previous movie Knocked Up, as we see how they are dealing with life after several years of being married.

PREVIEW REVIEW: The poster has the wife applying her makeup facing the bathroom mirror, while her husband is in the background, pants down, sitting on the toilet. That should give you an idea of where most the film’s humor can be found. I swear, no matter the religious, ethnic or political backgrounds of those in today’s comedies, they all share one common factor - bad taste.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s funny, and some of the bawdy dialogue is actually insightful. But in keeping with today’s movie humor, most of the insights, profound or otherwise, are smothered in crude visual and verbal content. Once again anatomical and scatological functions get a good exploiting and, along with an endless use of obscenities by adult and child, alike, we also must endure a dose of profanity, the misuse of both God’s name and Christ’s, again, by both adults and children.

We keep wondering why our culture seems so crude. I amend that. Some keep wondering why our culture is so crude. Would it be wrong to point the accusatory finger at Hollywood’s colony? After being steeped in movies by Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, and anyone named Seth, do you really wonder why the general public has become so desensitized to crudity, or why people are so unaware that such screen behavior still offends others?

I’m beginning to sound like a broken record as to the cruding-down of America, I realize. But it is a frustration for me that we are a country that no longer employs the likes of classy Cary Grant or posh William Powell to entertain us. And apparently there are no writers left in Tinseltown to amuse with witty life observations rather than deleterious dialogue. And what’s worst, I’m not sure today’s overall movie-going public would still find humor in non-coarse comedy chatter.

“So, what are you saying, Phil? Do you just want us to watch old movies? And never go to the movies?”

Well, that might not be a bad idea. I find it a bit foreshadowing that in Ephesians 6:12, Satan is referred to as “the prince of the power of the air.” Ever since the Garden of Eden, the soul of man has been under attack. But at no other time in mankind’s evolution has God’s written direction been so disavowed by such powerful mediums as television and the motion picture. The truth is, Satan governs much of the airways – and most of what appears on little pieces of celluloid. But that suggestion would be impractical. People are going to go to the movies; the habit is engrained in our psyche. I think our mistake is that we overwhelm ourselves with a secular approach to life, while excusing our lack of biblical and spiritual training.

Maybe we should start studying God’s Word and living by his precepts. That includes how we entertain ourselves.

Whether individual films have a detrimental effect on audiences has yet to be irrefutably proven, but it doesn't take a gaggle of psychologists to see that nonstop exploitive sexual images and brutal violence does exacerbate destructive behavior. As media commentator Michael Medved states in his provocative and insightful book Hollywood Vs. America: Popular Culture and the War on Traditional Values (Harper Collins/Zondervan, page 243), “The most profound problem with the popular culture isn't its immediate impact on a few vulnerable and explosive individuals, but its long-term effect on all the rest of us. The deepest concerns about Hollywood go beyond the industry's role in provoking a handful of specific crimes and involve its contribution to a general climate of violence and self-indulgence.”

Let's be honest with ourselves. We're way beyond the question, "Do the media affect our lives?" Many films stimulate our more carnal desires, while the Bible steadfastly maintains that it is the spirit that needs to be satisfied. The movies just aren’t about nurturing the spirit. Yet, the Bible says it needs to be. Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." Psalms 101: "I will set before my eyes no vile thing." Ephesians 5:11: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Universal