Judd Apatow is an unquestionably funny filmmaker. The man’s comedic genius knows no bounds of either box office potential or human decency. With his signature comedies The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, he showed that injecting a story with a warm heart and genuine human soul can bring a guilty chuckle to even the primmest of the proper. Unfortunately, This is 40 demonstrates how quickly heart and soul can be lost at the expense of gluttony, distaste, and self-indulgence.

Lumbering in at a whopping 134 minutes, the film runs too long by half an hour and never manages that signature Apatow heart. It always feels like a series of loosely stitched together comedy skits rather than the simple taking-of-stock piece he wanted it to be. Billed as the sort-of sequel to Knocked Up, This is 40 picks up the story of two of that film’s supporting characters -- Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) -- some five years after we met them in Knocked Up as they begin to stare their mid-life crisis directly in the face. Pete owns a struggling independent record label; Debbie runs a small women’s clothing boutique. Their 40th birthdays are approaching and their businesses are making no money, yet neither seems willing to admit any of it. Then there’s the issue of Pete’s having loaned some $80,000 to his mooching father (Albert Brooks) over the last couple years and Debbie’s unresolved issues with a missing father (John Lithgow), who now wants back in the picture.

Our first disconnect comes when we’re forced to understand and somehow empathize with characters who are far from typical. Pete and Debbie start out as likable enough schlubs just trying to make their way through this thing we call life. But as we get to know them closer and their increasingly contemptible and juvenile behavior begins to grate, we realize they’re nothing like you and me. They live beyond their means in a massive house they can’t afford and drive expensive luxury cars that far outstretch their budget. And if sympathy isn’t one of the film’s intended emotions, it should be. But we certainly shouldn’t be appalled at the utter lack of responsible parenthood, nor should we cheer for the failure awaiting them at every turn. If any filmmaker should know about connecting with an audience, it’s Apatow. He’s demonstrated time and again a unique knack for building characters that shine through the dark place they’re typically asked to visit. He doesn’t do that here, and This is 40 suffers greatly because of it.

Case in point: when it’s discovered that eldest daughter Sadi (played by Apatow and Mann’s real-life daughter, Maude -- how's that for self-indulgence?) is the target of a cruel Facebook prank, Debbie visits the instigator at his school and brow-beats the young boy with profane insults that bring him to the point of tears. The scene isn’t funny. It’s just plain mean-spirited and verges on gross malevolence. However, the scene IS nicely countered by Melissa McCarthy’s character as the young boy’s mother. It’s all meant to show that the best comedy comes from life’s most awkward situations, but even though Apatow’s humor has always stretched the envelope of acceptability, he tears it to shreds and broaches the disgraceful here.

Another of the film’s big misses involves its astonishing lack of humor. There are a few genuinely funny parts scattered throughout (most are divulged in the trailers), but more often than not, Apatow’s iconic brand of hilarious raunch is DOA. We often find ourselves chuckling lightly at some throw-away piece of dialogue before a scene abruptly ends in head-scratching silence.

Narrative structure and coherent storytelling have never been a comedy’s most critical elements. Nor have they necessarily ever occupied a prominent stock in Apatow’s stable. But in a comedy that slogs on well past two hours, anything to offset the bloated mire and hateful characters would be welcomed.

(Released by Universal Studios and rated "R" by MPAA.)

Review also posted at www.franksreelreviews.com.