Movie Review: Knocked Up

Like its premise, the appropriately named Knocked Up is a film that you thought would only be with you for one night, but instead grows, gestating inside of you. Filled with all the zany comedy, hilarious pop culture references and subtle heart that made his last film, The Forty Year Old Virgin, such a hit, director Judd Apatow's second cinematic offering not only matches "Virgin" for sheer number of laughs, but the director's matured storytelling ability allows for Knocked Up to surpass its predecessor in every way.

After a successful one night stand a chubby, unemployed stoner wakes up next to a gorgeous, leggy blonde from the opposite side of the socioeconomic spectrum. While Ben and Allison's story should have ended right there, with Allison gazing upon Ben's naked behind, pondering just how much alcohol she consumed the night before, things don't go exactly to plan. Poor Ben's inebriated judgment led him to misconstrue a heated, sexual demand from his partner the night before, leading him to consummate their relationship without the use of a condom.

While the morale behind Knocked Up could easily have been, as Ben so bluntly puts it, "Don't drink and bone" Judd Apatow again takes what easily could have been just another raunchy comedy and makes something far greater out of it. Like his last film, a hard R-rated comedy with a twist, Apatow again knocks one out of the park managing to turn what easily could have been a dragging comedy, clocking in at just over two hours, into one of the most touching, character driven pieces of the year.

Featuring exciting, younger character actors in principle roles, many of whom dazzled alongside Steve Carell in The Forty Year Old Virgin, Apatow has pitch perfectly cast Knocked Up. Though Katherine Heigl shines in her first leading lady role in a motion picture, Knocked Up is Seth Rogan's baby. While many will fondly remember Rogan as the humorous crony in "Virgin" that delivered the ingenious plant metaphor, with Knocked Up, even though the "bun" is literally in Heigl's oven, it is Rogan who carries this baby to life.