Knocked Up: A

It's time to get to know the two most promising young, creative minds in Hollywood, Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen. 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 these past great works and will finally put these two geniuses firmly on the map.\nIn "Knocked Up," Seth Rogen is finally given his first leading role, and he absolutely nails it. He plays Ben Stone, a 20-something 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 and impregnates the attractive Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl), an up-and-coming entertainment journalist.\nThe movie makes pregnancy seem easier than it is, but Apatow keeps the right tone for the film at every step. Through Apatow's direction and script, every moment feels authentic and dead-on accurate. Even though its plot points are predictable, the film feels fresh and exciting because of his excellent storytelling and wonderfully developed characters.\nApatow assembled a solid group of actors pulled from his various shows and projects and found fitting roles for many of them here. Jason Segel and Martin Starr are perfect as Rogen's best friends, and Paul Rudd is his typically sadistic self. Apatow's actual wife, Leslie Mann, plays Rudd's wife and Heigl's older sister to perfection. A quick cameo from Harold Ramis as Rogen's dad adds a lot.\nThis film is consistently laugh-out-loud funny, and even the plot points that would feel bogged down in a typical romantic comedy are perfect here.