( CNN ) -- Pete ( Paul Rudd ) , the floppy-haired hero of Judd Apatow 's winningly nimble and close-to-the-bone family-mishegoss comedy `` This Is 40 , '' is a married father of two in L.A. who escapes the frazzled swirl of his existence by engaging in deep , dark secret activities . He eats chocolate cupcakes — many , many more of them than his wife , Debbie ( Leslie Mann ) , a major nutritional scold , would suspect . And when he 's feeling beyond overwhelmed , he heads for the bathroom with his tablet to access ... his favorite porn site ? No , to play Internet Scrabble . It 's a sign of what his life has become that this is his notion of a grand escape , an oasis of me-time . If neither of these jokes strikes an amused chord of recognition in you , then you may find `` This Is 40 '' to be mildly funny at best . But if they do resonate , you may chuckle , with knowing pleasure , throughout the movie . '30 Rock ' wraps filming , tweets a photo . The comedies that put Apatow on the map ( `` Knocked Up , '' `` The 40 Year-Old Virgin '' ) took off from broadly italicized concepts , but `` This Is 40 '' lets you know in its title that it 's less about a concept than a state of being . Pete and Debbie were supporting characters in `` Knocked Up , '' and now they 're turning 40 , with two lovely daughters ( nicely played by Apatow 's own daughters , Maude and Iris ) and two crusty fathers ( a terrific Albert Brooks and John Lithgow ) , who each have young families of their own . The couple still love each other , but their relationship is a mess — a whirlwind of fights , lies , negotiations , teamwork , good sex , bad sex , and general confusion . The whole tone of the movie is spontaneous , rolling , experiential . It 's got some laugh-out-loud lines , especially when the two jump into the politics of Sadie 's middle school , or when Pete is dealing with the business he owns , a struggling boutique music label devoted to the white-guy indie rockers he grew up with and still thinks are cool . The joke is no one else does — not even Graham Parker ( playing a version of himself ) , Pete 's latest relic-legend , who knows his records wo n't sell . 'Hobbit ' looks tough to beat at box office . That said , a lot of the best gags in `` This Is 40 '' are the ones that percolate between the lines . The comedy is there in how Pete leaps like a puppy to do his wife 's bidding , without realizing that he 's already in the doghouse for not having taken the initiative himself ; or in the way that Apatow never once stages a marital-therapy session — but has Pete and Debbie lapse into the euphemisms of therapy-speak , even as it still sounds like they want to kill each other . `` This Is 40 '' is n't always hilarious , but it 's ticklishly honest and droll about all the things being a parent can do to a relationship . And why it 's still worth it . A- . See the original article at EW.com . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
Paul Rudd 's Pete is the floppy-haired hero of Judd Apatow 's `` This Is 40 '' `` This Is 40 '' is less about a concept than a state of being . The whole tone of the movie is spontaneous , rolling , experiential .