This is 40, review - Telegraph This is 40 is a comedy film about the hell of getting older in a place where ageing naturally is the last taboo, and I only wish it lived up to that utterly inspired concept. It is written and directed by Judd Apatow, the alpha wolf of Hollywood's slack pack, and revisits two characters from his very funny and successful Knocked Up (2007). Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd play Pete and Debbie, two married Los Angelenos whose 40th birthdays bookend the film. In an extra twist of the knife, hers comes first. They vow to eat more healthily, take more exercise and improve relations between their two young daughters, played by Apatow and Mann's real-life offspring Maude and Iris. But recessions take their toll, both financial and physical: Paul's record label's latest project flops while Debbie enviously ogles the perky physique of a younger colleague (Megan Fox), and their marriage starts to fray. Apatow wields money, looks and sexual frankness here in much the same way Woody Allen does wit: his characters have them and aren't afraid to use them. "You look like a couple from a bank commercial," rages a scene-stealing Melissa McCarthy, with merciless accuracy. For many, their magazine-perfect lifestyle will invalidate the drama, though Apatow would no doubt argue that's the point. Less up for discussion is the film's over-indulgence: every scene feels like an airbrushed composite of dozens of rambling takes, and 133 minutes is drainingly long for a story this sitcom-slight.