Seth Rogen's coming out party

It's time to get to know the two most promising young, creative stars in Hollywood. Collectively, their credits include pop culture phenomena like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Anchorman" and "Da Ali G. Show" as well as cult successes like "Freaks and Geeks," "Donnie Darko" and "Heavyweights." This film ranks right up there with any of these past great works and will finally put these two geniuses firmly on the map.\nSeth Rogen and Judd Apatow have been quietly writing, directing and, in Rogen's case, starring in these instant classics for years but are shockingly not household names. Rogen is the guy whose first line in "Donnie Darko" is "I like your boobs," and he starred in the cult hit shows "Undeclared" and "Freaks and Geeks." In "Knocked Up," he is finally given his first leading role, and he absolutely nails it.\nRogen plays Ben Stone, a twentysomething stoner who has no job and spends his days lying around getting high and joking around with his guy friends. On a night out with the boys, he meets the attractive Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) who is gaining success at the E! Entertainment Network. After a one-night stand, with some miscommunication on condom usage, she gets knocked up. Stone doesn't even remember they had sex.\nApatow's direction and script make every moment feel authentic and spot-on accurate even though the plot points are predictable. This movie is, on the surface, your typical romantic comedy, but Apatow has a way of telling a run-of-the-mill relationship story and making it seem fresh and exciting because of his storytelling and wonderfully developed characters.\nThe story progresses as they both freak out about the pregnancy and come to terms with it thanks to their friends and family members, who are all played by a extraordinary cast. \nApatow has assembled a solid group of actors to pull from through his various shows and projects and finds perfect roles for many of them here. Jason Segel and Martin Starr are perfect as Rogen's best friends because they starred in "Freaks and Geeks" together. \nPaul Rudd is his typical, sadistic, "I do what I want" self, and Apatow's actual wife Leslie Mann play's Rudd's wife and Heigl's older sister to perfection. A quick cameo from Harold Ramis as Rogen's dad rounds out the cast nicely.\nThe movie makes pregnancy seem easier than it is, and there are certainly more challenges that come with it than I can imagine, but Apatow keeps the right tone for the film at every step. There is a scene of overwhelming shock value at the end of the movie that could be seen as excessive, but it's played up in a way that makes it seem necessary and hilarious. This film is consistently laugh-out-loud funny, the rapport between the guys, especially Rudd and Rogen, is dynamic and I can't wait to see it again.