Judd Apatow-Directed Movies Ranked, From The 40-Year-Old Virgin to The Bubble

Judd Apatow’s impact on modern comedy is immeasurable. He began writing, directing and producing several cult TV comedy classics such as “The Ben Stiller Show,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Freaks and Geeks” and “Undeclared.” His feature work was more limited until the mid-aughts, when his directorial debut, “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” because a runaway hit and immediately popularized his shaggy, relaxed, improv-heavy and warmhearted film construction.

With that, Apatow became one of the most in-demand names behind the camera in Hollywood, directing eight more features and producing scores more. His Midas touch included co-writing a well-received Sandler comedy (“You Don’t Mess with the Zohan”), producing a slew of critically and commercially revered projects from his friends (“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” and “Superbad,” to name a few) and even returning to TV to executive produce Lena Dunham’s buzzy “Girls.”

Yet Apatow’s directorial efforts seemed to be his most pure expressions, a little less goofy and more heartfelt than his other wackier fare. He tackled the downsides of fame (“Funny People”), aging (“This Is 40”), parenting (“Knocked Up”), and told the personal stories of two white-hot comedians, Amy Schumer in “Trainwreck” and Pete Davidson in “The King of Staten Island.” Even though those stories were not autobiographical to him, he understood the complexity behind these comedic figures and allowed them to tell their tales in their own way.

Check out Variety‘s ranking of Apatow’s best work, limited to feature directing but including his documentaries.

• The Bubble (2022)

  

  Apatow’s latest is a dual sendup of the entertainment industry and COVID culture, but unfortunately it’s devoid of any interesting or funny things to say about either. A group of actors all bubble together to film the latest chapter in a very silly dinosaur saga, and unlike the director’s more personal fare, the jokes a wide swings that feel anonymous. It’s easy to daydream Christopher Guest or Tina Fey taking their swing at this material, bringing with them some real characters that maintain a quirky specificity. But any momentum from the wildly overqualified cast (including Karen Gillan, Pedro Pascal, Leslie Mann, Keegan-Michael Key and scores of comedic ringers) is squandered with broad caricatures and quarantine jokes we’ve collectively been saying for years. While Apatow’s love of improv has often allowed the funniest ideas to float to the surface, more topical laughs can be had scrolling through TikTok for 20 minutes than in the entirety of “The Bubble.”

• May It Last: A Portrait Of The Avett Brothers (2017)

  

  This documentary about the making of The Avett Brothers’ ninth album “True Sadness” is handsomely shot and follows a good band full of good people, but rarely elevates out of fans-only territory. That said, the territory is rich with great roots performances and a bond between the band which helps them to work through personal tragedies via their music. Apatow and co-director Michael Bonfiglio get intimate access to many of the touchstones of a typical rock doc (dealing with divorces, a celebrity relationship, working with Rick Rubin, etc.) but seen through the prism of a band tied to their family, hometowns and craft. Although they went on to tour “True Sadness” at enormous venues like Madison Square Garden, the emotional work put into the record fits the intimacy of this portrait.

• The King of Staten Island (2020)

  

  Pete Davidson winningly leaned into his big-mouthed derelict screwup persona in Judd Apatow’s “The King of Staten Island,” but the film stumbled in its efforts to soften this fictionalized Pete. “Staten Island” is a loose and meandering comedy about Scott (Davidson), an aspiring tattoo artist in the eponymous New York City borough who must confront adulthood when his mother (Marisa Tomei) starts a new relationship with a local firefighter (Bill Burr). Davidson, Tomei and Burr’s expert chemistry keeps “Staten Island” alive, and the developing relationship between Scott and his hot-and-cold new father figure gives the film a convincing emotional heart, but so much of the secondary storylines fall flat. Unlike “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” where every supporting character feels like they could sustain their own comedy film, “Staten Island” isn’t well supported by the motley crew that makes up Scott’s friend group. One subplot about Steve getting roped into a local robbery bloats out the running time instead of developing Scott with interesting obstacles. And yet Davidson remains unscathed. If there were any doubts the “SNL” favorite had what it takes to be a terrific actor, this movie dispelled them as he gives his trademark goofball personal a fleshed out, dimensional presence.

• This Is 40 (2012)

  

  A “Knocked Up” spinoff centering on Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann’s married Pete and Debbie, “This Is 40” faced some criticism as Apatow using a movie to complain about his own rich people problems. While the autobiographical elements are undeniable (Apatow and Mann’s real life kids play the couple’s children, making Rudd a clear stand-in for the director), this shaggy tale of middle age malaise is too honest to receive so much flak. The lengthy running time and wincing disagreements over money, kids, jobs and responsibilities can be alienating, but the rawest moments evoke one of Apatow’s heroes, John Cassavetes. It may not be as exciting a two and a half hour ride as the latest Marvel fare, but kudos to Apatow for putting vulnerabilities on paper and using his power to encourage fans he made with gross-out humor to grow along with him.

• Funny People (2009)

  

  “Funny People” might be Apatow’s most long-winded effort, but it more than proved the writer-director has what it takes to grow up and get mature without sacrificing that scrappy R-rated energy that is the bedrock of his films. Adam Sandler stars as a famous comedian forced into self-reflection after he is diagnosed with a terminal disease. The bulk of said reflection is defined by his burgeoning relationship with an aspiring comedian (Seth Rogen) and his prickly history with an ex-fiancée (Leslie Mann). The three central performances might provide the best acting showcase in an Apatow movie to date. The meta casting of comedy superstar Sandler, himself at a crossroad in his career before his star was revived by Netflix, works to great effect as Apatow is able to wax poetic about comedic legacies in a way that never crosses over into a didactic eyeroll. “Funny People” might ramble on for too long, but it’s Apatow at his most raw and genuine.

• The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (2018)

  

  A sprawling portrait of Apatow’s mentor, this warts-and-all documentary on the art and philosophies of Garry Shandling didn’t shy away from the humor and light nor the more difficult facets of this comedic genius’ life. Synthesizing Shandling’s writings, footage and interviews from dozens of colleagues in order to tell his life story and analyze his deep thoughts, it’s a fascinating portrait of an artist who gave so much of himself to fans while still always searching for his own tranquility. It’s a thoughtful and ambitious project, brimming with curiosity not touched by most documentaries about funny people.

• Trainwreck (2015)

  

  Amy Schumer and Judd Apatow proved mutually beneficial collaborators with “Trainwreck,” a coming of middle age comedy written by Schumer about an aimless party girl who must debate changing her life after meeting her first serious boyfriend (played by the effortlessly adorable Bill Hader). Schumer was a television darling eager for her big movie breakthrough. Apatow was a successful comedy director whose career was ready for a freshening up, thus partnering with Schumer and embracing her bawdy feminist comedy worked like gangbusters for the director. Schumer’s Amy Townsend in the screwed-up, screwball heroine at the center of a somewhat shaggy, often hilarious romantic comedy that again shows off Apatow’s strength of balancing irreverent raunchy humor with candid insights into the give-and-take of grown-up relationships. “Trainwreck” doesn’t balance its comedy and drama elements as effortlessly as other Apatow offerings (Amy’s drinking and grief roughly juxtapose her raunchy antics), but Bill Hader is such a loveable male love interest and the film’s supporting cast is used in such brilliant quick doses (LeBron James and Tilda Swinton being the MVPs) that “Trainwreck” feels like both traditional comfort food for Apatow and a slightly refreshing new direction.

• Knocked Up (2007)

  

  After breaking out with “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” Apatow delivered another R-rated comedy classic with “Knocked Up.” Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl play a slacker and a career-minded media reporter who decide to have baby together after a one night stand leads to a surprise pregnancy. Apatow takes the classic set up of a screwball comedy (a battle of the sexes in which a woman teaches a man to grow up and man teaches a women to let loose a bit) and infuses it with contemporary drama as “Knocked Up” reveals dramatic shades about reshaping one’s life long after the traditional coming-of-age period. Rogen and Heigl heighten their tabloid personas so that they’re contrasting personalities having a humorous push and pull to them, while Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann offer such laugh-out-loud supporting work that their characters ended up getting their own spinoff movie. One of the biggest complaints against Apatow is that his movies are overlong, but that’s hardly an issue when his characters are as funny and engaging as they are in “Knocked Up.” With the one-two punch of “Virgin” and “Knocked Up,” Apatow showed he had a real knack for raunchy comedy with a heart of gold.

• The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

  

  Judd Apatow became a household name as a comedy director and delivered the R-rated comedy boom one of its defining titles with “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” Steve Carell’s naivete and bumbling kindness are downright infectious in the lead role of Andy, a lonely electronics store employee who falls in love and worries that his lack of sexual experience will ruin the good thing he has going. “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” has the most consistent laughs in Apatow’s filmography, probably because every character is funny enough to be at the center of his own movie (from Seth Rogen’s vulgar stoner to Romany Malco’s womanizer and Paul Rudd’s self-destructive romantic). Even the bit parts, from Jane Lynch as Andy’s horny boss to Jonah Hill as an awkward customer, mine laughs with every word of dialogue. But what makes this film one of Apatow’s best is that’s it’s a romance first and comedy second. “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” wears its heart on its sleeve, in part because of Carell but mostly because of Catherine Keener’s wonderful performance as Andy’s love interest, Trish. She’s a fumbling, quirky goofball that injects the film with such pathos that all the raunchy jokes can’t hide the film’s big, beating romantic heart. Keener and Carell make you root for their love story and believe in it, too.

Read More About:

• Judd Apatow,
• The 40-Year-Old Virgin,
• The Bubble

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