Judd Apatow Ranked

Welcome to the latest edition of my "Ranked" series, where I rank a franchise or the filmography of an actor/director from worst to best and hand out related accolades. This week, I'm profiling the work of director/writer/producer Judd Apatow-whose latest project "The King of Staten Island" hits on demand video services on Friday.  

Judd Apatow's Filmography Ranked:
5.Funny People (B)
4.This is 40 (B+)
3.Trainwreck (A)
2.Knocked Up (A+)
1.The 40 Year-Old Virgin (A+)

Top Dog: The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)
No behind-the-scenes figure has been involved with more of my favorite comedies than Apatow. Even when narrowing the focus of his lengthy resume to just his feature length directorial efforts, the list of contributions he's made is remarkable. Trainwreck is a clever, standout romantic comedy that utilized Amy Schumer far better than any other project she's appeared in thus far in her acting career and Knocked Up remains one of the most well-rounded, wire-to-wire funny comedies I've ever seen. As terrific as those projects are, The 40-Year Old Virgin is a film that defines Apatow's brilliance better than any other. In this story of an electronic good store employee (Steve Carrell) who goes on a quest to end his virginity, he weaves together vulgar laughs, the warm camaraderie of friendship and sincere sweetness into a joyous package that hasn't lost an ounce of its power in the nearly 15 years since it was released.    

Lowlight: Funny People (2009)
There's a lot of elements of Funny People that work very well. Adam Sandler is terrific as a jaded asshole movie star who returns to his stand-up roots after being diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia, the buddy dynamic between Sandler and Seth Rogen-who portrays a struggling comedian who Sandler takes under his wing is very realistic and per usual, the supporting cast is full of hilarious scene-stealers (Jason Schwartzman, Jonah Hill, Aubrey Plaza, Aziz Ansari, RZA). The problem is that unlike most of Apatow's other projects, there's some real hiccups present here. Its gaudy 149-minute runtime just never feels necessary, particularly in the second half of the film where the narrative shifts from a miserable A-list comic actor trying to come to terms with his life in the wake of potential death and pass along his knowledge to someone else that's coming up in the business to him trying to win over his now-(unhappily) married former girlfriend (Leslie Mann) that he's still in love with. That romantic plot is just nowhere near as compelling, funny or poignantly introspective as the first half and it turns the film into the kind of imperfect quality roller coaster that Apatow had previously managed to avoid.
     

Most Overrated: None
A combination of a relatively small filmography, mixed critical or audience reception on every movie he's put out post-Knocked Up and the deep love I have for his first two projects prevents me from feeling any of Apatow's work is overrated.  

Most Underrated: This is 40 (2012)
The semi-sequel to Knocked Up may lack the narrative stakes or heart of its predecessor, but I don't think it deserves the reputation its earned as the worthless throwaway title in Apatow's directorial catalog. Checking back in with the side characters from Knocked Up (Rudd, Mann) as they navigate a crossroads in their lives and marriage made for a enjoyable low stakes comedy that mined a lot of laughs out of mundane everyday life/relationship problems.

Best Ensemble Cast: The 40 Year Old-Virgin (2005)
Before I explain why The 40 Year Old-Virgin is receiving this accolade, let's take a look at the unfairly stacked ensembles that led some of his other movies.

Knocked Up:
Seth Rogen
Katherine Heigl
Paul Rudd
Leslie Mann
Jay Baruchel
Jason Segel
Jonah Hill
Martin Starr
Charlene Yi
Harold Ramis
Kristen Wiig
Ken Jeong

Funny People:
Adam Sandler
Seth Rogen
Leslie Mann
Eric Bana
Jason Schwartzman
Jonah Hill
Aubrey Plaza
Aziz Ansari
RZA

Trainwreck:
Amy Schumer
Bill Hader
Brie Larson
LeBron James
Tilda Swinton
Vanessa Bayer
Colin Quinn
John Cena
Mike Birbiglia

Considering the amount of talent present, a strong argument could be made for any of those. However, the combination of pure talent and collective role-crushing done. Everybody from Steve Carrell as the awkward yet lovable protagonist to Catherine Keener as his love interest to his co-workers/best friends (Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Romany Malco) to the incredible bit players (Elizabeth Banks, Jane Lynch, Leslie Mann, Kat Dennings) are note-perfect and that level of universal excellence allows every note of Apatow's script to play out gracefully.