‘Knocked Up’ knocks it out of the park

I wish Judd Apatow were my father.

There. I finally said it. I know this might be a bold statement, but when you think about all Apatow has done, you really can’t blame me.

First, he’s written the completely awesome yet underrated comedies Heavyweights and The Cable Guy. Then there’s the string of hilarious and heart warming television shows (Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared) that were cancelled before they were even given a fighting chance.

Judd Apatow 

And then he took The 40-Year-Old Virgin — what could have been a cheesy, one-joke movie — and turned it into one of the best character comedies to come out of Hollywood in the last 10 years. In my opinion, the man can do no wrong — and as I stepped into the Paramount Theater to see Apatow’s latest comedy Knocked Up, I had almost impossibly high expectations.

But the verdict is: AMAZING. Apatow and crew deliver once again with a comedy that provides as many belly laughs as true emotional moments between characters.

The film stars Apatow favorite Seth Rogen (from Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, and Virgin) as Ben, a stoner/slacker with no real goals or ambitions in life except to party with his buddies and maybe start a website that gives the exact time within a film when a hot chick gets naked. (He’s never heard of Mr. Skin.)

As fate would have it, Ben and crew go to a night club for some overpriced booze. There, Ben hits it off with Alison (Katherine Heigl from Grey’s Anatomy), an E! News correspondent, and the two have a drunken hook-up.

That should have been the end of their story; however, Ben forgot to put a condom on. And, wouldn’t you know it, Alison gets pregnant.

Knocked Up 

What follows is an incredibly unique romantic comedy that will appeal to men and women of all ages. And lines from it will definitely be quoted randomly — constantly — by high-schoolers and college students for many years to come.

Rogen is simply fantastic as Ben, the boy who is forced to grow up faster than he would like. I’ve been watching Rogen for several years now, and I’ve always felt his natural screen presence and timing would make him a great leading man, but I never thought he would be this compelling and affable. Each line he delivers sounds like he just came up with it off the top of his head, and he deftly handles the emotional moments just as well as the funny moments. He’s a pleasure to watch.

Then there’s Katherine Heigl. Having never seen Grey’s Anatomy, I had very modest expectations for her performance. But she completely owns the role of Alison, making her a complex character wrestling with the ideas of being a mom and a professional woman in Los Angeles. With a strong comedic presence, Heigl effectively counterbalances Rogen’s laid-back charm and even stands toe to toe in a scene where both characters yell profanities at each other in a doctor’s office.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a true Apatow comedy without strong supporting characters. Leading the way is Paul Rudd, who delivers one of his best comedic performances in a career full of amazing comedic performances. Taking a fairly simple role of a bored husband, Rudd creates a compelling portrait of middle-aged men who long for excitement in their plain and simple lives. Did I mention he was hilarious, too? As proved in Virgin, Rogen and Rudd have amazing chemistry together, and it’s on fine display here once again, especially when the two watch Cirque Du Soleil under the influence of some powerful hallucinogens. It’s a scene that’s equally as humorous as the painful chest waxing scene in Virgin.

Leslie Mann (Apatow’s wife in real life) plays Rudd’s wife — it’s a role that any woman over 35 will identify with. She’s a woman coming to grips with losing her youthful beauty and possibly losing the love of her husband. It’s a complex role, but Mann excels, adding just enough brutal humor and emotional nuance to make her a flawed yet likable character.

However, one of the true secret weapons of Knocked Up lies in the comedic chops of Ben’s four best friends, played by Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Jonah Hill, and Jay Baruchel.

Rogen and Heigl 

These guys lend true support to every scene they’re in and provide some of the funniest one-liners in recent memory. Each of these guys should become big comedy stars over the next couple of years.

Needless to say, the real hero of all this is Apatow. At the creative helm, he achieves true cinematic genius simply by assembling the talent and then letting them do their thing. He’s a modern-day Woody Allen, without the annoying neurosis and penchant for casting himself as the lead in every other film. Hopefully this string of entertaining yet personal character comedies will continue, and if Knocked Up is proof of anything, Apatow is just getting started.