Knocked Up

Judd Apatow's Latest Comedy Gem

This is the best movie I have seen so far this summer movie season. After some underwhelming sequels, here is a movie that finally lives up to the hype.

"Knocked Up" is the latest comic opus from Judd Apatow who previously gave us "The 40 Year Old Virgin" with Steve Carrell. I was going to sue the writers for depicting my life without my permission. It's bad enough they got the age wrong...and now you know more about me than you would ever care to know.

Judd Apatow was also one of the chief architects of "Freaks & Geeks," a brilliant TV show which has since gained a deserved cult following. Like all brilliant shows, it lasted only season on network television.

The movie stars Seth Rogan (one of the stars of "Freaks & Geeks) as Ben Stone, a pot-smoking underachiever who still means well. He hangs out daily with his equally stoned friends as they put together a website documenting when famous actresses show their naked bodies in mainstream movies. Takes them a while to realize that someone else has already come up with that idea.

..Also starring in the movie is Katherine Heigl, who is currently doing breakout work in "Grey's Anatomy" (I never get around to watching it). She plays Alison Scott, an employee of that extravagant and high end TV network E. She ends up getting a promotion to onscreen anchor, and goes out to celebrate with her sister (Leslie Mann). They go to a club, and Alison ends up bumping into Ben. They get drunk and end up making out. However, she gets all impatient with him taking way too much time to get a condom on. She wants him to get it over with, so he throws out a condom, and you know the rest.

This sounds like a setup for a contrived sitcom situation, which would make sense since Judd Apatow used to write for television. It is such a credit to him as a writer and a director that he keeps it from ever becomming a contrived and completely formulaic movie. There is a formula at work here, and it worked great in "The 40 Year Old Virgin," and it works great here. Judd gives us characters so believably down to earth that it anchors the story in a reality that makes this story even funnier. It has a big heart as well as a bunch of huge laughs.