Every Comedy Film Produced by Judd Apatow, Ranked Worst to Best
Best known for his work in comedy, Judd Apatow has made his name in television and film as a writer, director, and producer.
Apatow first established himself as a stand-up comedian and writer, earning an Emmy Award for his work as a writer on The Ben Stiller Show (Metasocre: 75) and receiving five more nominations while working on The Larry Sanders Show (95). He founded the production company Apatow Productions in 1999 and garnered wider recognition with the company’s first project, the cult favorite show Freaks and Geeks (88), for which he served as a writer, director, and executive producer. Apatow then made his feature directorial debut in 2005 with The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and has directed seven additional features to date, plus a documentary.
Many Apatow-produced films share similar traits: a raunchy sense of humor, immature characters who have some growing up to do, earnest themes exploring love and relationships. As a director, Apatow often anchors his films around a charismatic comedic star and allows for plenty of improv.
He frequently tends to work with many of the same collaborators, including actors Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Will Ferrell, Jonah Hill, and Jason Segel, and directors Adam McKay and Nicholas Stoller. Seth Rogen has worked with Apatow on eight of his projects to date, as an actor, writer, and/or producer. Apatow’s films also often star his wife, Leslie Mann, and their daughters Maude Apatow and Iris Apataow have both appeared in multiple films too.
In honor of the upcoming release of BROS, the latest film produced by Apatow, Metacritic is looking back at his extensive career as a producer. This list features all 27 of the films Apatow produced through Apatow Productions thus far, plus a few other comedy films for which he served as a producer, ranked from worst to best by Metascore.
Drillbit Taylor follows three high school freshmen who decide to hire an adult bodyguard — only the man they hire isn’t exactly the martial arts expert he pretends to be. When they become the targets of a relentless bully, Ryan (Troy Gentile), Wade (Nate Hartley), and Emmit (David Dorfman) put on an ad for protection, ultimately going with the cheapest option: Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson). He begins training them with questionable methods, then infiltrates their school as a substitute teacher. The 2008 film is based on an original story by John Hughes and is directed by Steven Brill.
“The ‘Apatow formula’ is pretty simple: raunchy comedy, likable characters, and a dash of sweetness (but nothing too sweet). Drillbit Taylor fulfills the third characteristic but falls short in the other two.” —James Berardinelli, ReelViews