This Is 40 was originally scheduled to be released on June 1, 2012. In May 2011, Universal postponed the release to December 2012, allowing the studio to use that date for their release of
Snow White & the Huntsman; the
Snow White film was seen as better competition with a rival 2012 Snow White film project,
Mirror Mirror, by
Relativity Media.
Box office During its opening weekend,
This Is 40 grossed $11.58 million at the domestic box office. By the end of its theatrical run,
This Is 40 grossed approximately $67.5 million at the domestic box office, and approximately $20.5 million at the foreign box office, with a worldwide total of $88,058,786.
Critical reception Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 52% approval rating, based on reviews from 221 critics, with an average rating of 5.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Judd Apatow definitely delivers funny and perceptive scenes in
This Is 40, even if they are buried in aimless self-indulgence." On
Metacritic, the film received a score of 59 out of 100, based on reviews from 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.
Robbie Collin of
The Daily Telegraph gave the film two stars out of five, commending its premise but criticizing its execution. "
This Is 40 is a comedy film about the hell of getting older in a place where aging naturally is the last taboo, and I only wish it lived up to that utterly inspired concept...every scene feels like an airbrushed composite of dozens of rambling takes, and 133 minutes is drainingly long for a story this sitcom-slight," he wrote.
Peter Travers of
Rolling Stone gave the film three stars out of four, saying "There are big laughs here, and smaller ones that sting. Rudd and Mann are a joy to watch, especially when their comic darts draw blood, as when Debbie tells "charmboy" Pete that inside he's a dick. Cheers as well to a terrific supporting cast, including
Melissa McCarthy as a mother from hell,
John Lithgow as Debbie's withdrawn father, and the priceless Albert Brooks as Pete's dad, living off his son's dole to support his tow-headed triplets.
This Is 40 doesn't build to a catharsis. It sometimes dawdles as it circles the spectacle of a marriage in flux. Yet Pete and Debbie's sparring yields some of Apatow's most personal observations yet on the feelings for husbands, wives, parents, and children that we categorize as love."
Michael Phillips of the
Chicago Tribune said "More like
This Is Whiny", giving the film two and a half stars out of four. "
This Is 40 has its share of clever, zingy material, proving that writer-director Judd Apatow has lost none of his ability to land a punch line with the right, unexpected turn of phrase. 'My boobs are just ... gone,' bemoans Debbie, played by Leslie Mann, comparing hers with those of her employee, played by
Megan Fox. Then comes the second line, building smartly on the setup: 'They didn't even say goodbye.' Mann is wonderful, a uniquely skillful comic and dramatic actor—wide-eyed yet merrily devastating when the venom's called for. Rudd can get away with murder on sheer charm. But it's easy, and sort of lazy, to establish jokes and entire scenes built upon mocking somebody's dialect, or the older daughter's obsession with
Lost."
Richard Roeper gave the film a C− and called the film "a huge disappointment". His main complaint about the film was its running time and most of the unnecessary supporting characters.
The New Yorkers Richard Brody writes,
This Is 40 "is the stuff of life, and it flows like life, and, like life, it would be good for it to last longer". ==Accolades==