During a summer where it seems destined that over-hyped, adrenaline-fueled regurgitations of the over-hyped, adrenaline-fueled franchises of two to three years ago will dominate the box office (not that there’s anything wrong with that), it’s a welcome sign that, once again, we can turn to a smart, innovative comedy to clean the palate. Two years ago, writer and director Judd Apatow provided perhaps the finest example of the phenomenon with The 40-Year-Old Virgin. This year, Apatow brings us Knocked Up, a refreshingly droll story about a goofy schlub whose one-night stand with a hottie turns into an unexpected wake-up call to adulthood.

The schlub in question is Ben Stone (Seth Rogen), a prototypical man/boy with an appropriate last name: he prefers smoking reefer with his buddies and pondering the launch of a celebrity nudie website over any kind of ambition. While partying at a local club, he meets Alison (Katherine Heigl), a blonde bombshell out celebrating her recent on-air promotion at the E! network. Though she’s far out of his league, he’s witty and she’s drunk, and she takes him home. Eight weeks later, she finds out she’s preggers, and they try to make some kind of relationship work. The problems are many, but stem largely from the fact that Ben refuses to grow up and that the best approximation of marriage they can follow is that of Alison’s sister (Leslie Mann) and brother-in-law (Paul Rudd), a mixture of self loathing and occasional love.

The idea that a movie would follow the trappings of making an ill-suited relationship work for baby’s sake seems tough to swallow, but Apatow peppers the story with some of his rudest, most uproarious jokes to date. Ben’s friends, a collection of players from Apatow’s previous TV and movie lives, are Jay and Silent Bob meets the gang from the first American Pie, and that’s a good thing. Rogen and Rudd, meanwhile, are incredible deadpanners who can have a foot in both the dramatic and comedic plotlines. With Mann at his side, Rudd nearly runs away with the movie. But Apatow gives Heigl and Rogen enough attention that it always feels like their film.

Where Knocked Up really succeeds is in its heart. The 40-Year-Old Virgin was great because it put a touching story and lovable characters in with its plethora of quotable lines and frat boy humor; this movie flips the equation. It’s Apatow’s sweetest work since certain episodes of Freaks & Geeks, and his actors, particularly Heigl, pull it off nicely. Her uncertain declaration of love towards Ben early in the movie speaks well to her hesitance to have her life turned upside down not just by a newborn but by a man who acts like one.

It runs a little too long, and yes, I understand that Rogen isn’t the typical Hollywood heartthrob, but he still can’t hold the movie up by himself. Luckily, he doesn’t have to, and there are few other problems with Knocked Up. Held up against Virgin and Freaks & Geeks, it isn’t his absolute best work, but Apatow slightly below the top of his game is better than most of Hollywood, and Knocked Up is easily the best comedy of the year.

Rating: * * * * of 5

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