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This Is 40 (opening December 21)
The Details: This "sort-of sequel" to Knocked Up finds writer/director Judd Apatow focusing on that film's secondary characters, hapless Pete (Paul Rudd) and his tightly-wound wife Debbie (Apatow's real-life wife Leslie Mann), as they make their way into middle age. Apparently quite reluctantly on Debbie's part. Jason Segel, Lena Dunham, Melissa McCarthy, Albert Brooks and Charlyne Yi co-star; Apatow and Mann's own daughters reprise their roles as Pete and Debbie's kids.
The Trailer: Based on the trailer, this looks more like The Five-Year Engagement than Bridesmaids: more slice-of-life than full-on comic hilarity. But that's a side of Apatow's work that I've always liked, and since I'm on that path through my early 40s myself, I'm pretty much the target audience.
The Buzz: Apatow's been dealing with haters for the last few years, and some of them are no doubt smug that the really quite good The Five-Year Engagement flopped during its first weekend in theaters. But we fans are definitely going to be there.
