Knocked Up (***1/2)

I loved this movie. Judd Apatow is, without a doubt, the best comic writer-director working in movies today. Like The 40 Year-Old Virgin before it, Knocked Up is a riotously funny, clever, and ultimately sweet film about one wildly complicated one night stand. The joys of this film, and there are many, lie in the fantastic cast that's been assembled. Many of the actors are alums of previous Apatow productions like Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. Seth Rogen and Kathryn Heigl are fanastic as the leads. Rogen really comes into his own here, and emerges a star by the end. The jokes are fresh and I found myself laughing outloud and often throughout the entire film. And when I wasn't laughing, I was fully engaged in the story and the characters. Few comedies these days are able to pull that off, and most are downright boring and tedious when they aren't trying to be funny. Not Knocked Up. It stands head and shoulders above all other comedies this year, and to date, above all other movies as well.