15 minutes into the movie, Ryan Seacrest, who makes a cameo appearance, says the golden words, “Why can’t we just cut the crap?”

Well, his wish is my command.

Knocked Up knocked me out – although not entirely in a good sense. The 2-hour movie stretched my attention span quite a bit but it made up for it with its hilariously refreshing take on the usual ‘one night stand with stranger leaves girl pregnant’ story angle.

In case you’re wondering what I’m ranting about, Knocked Up tells the tale of a night of harmless fun gone terribly wrong.

Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is a 24-year-old up-and-coming television journalist for entertainment channel, E! To celebrate her promotion, she and married older sister, Debbie (Leslie Mann), hit a club for a little merrymaking. There, she meets a sweet and funny guy, Ben Stone (Seth Rogen), who buys her drinks. Flattered and intent on having fun, she spends the night downing shots with him and in her drunken stupor, invites him back to her place to do the nasty.

In their rush to get it on and with Allison unaware, Ben forgoes the rubber and that folks, as we all know, is how babies and some story plots are hatched (pardon the pun) in a number of Hollywood productions.

In the morning, a sober Allison awakes to a tubby and repulsive (imagine hairy man boobs) Ben. Thinking she’ll never have to see him again, she quickly sends him on his way. Everything returns to normal until an unsuspecting and mortified Allison realises she’s pregnant with Ben’s child.

Determined to keep the baby, as well as make the best of the situation, she tries her best to involve Ben in the pregnancy – which sees them dating, shopping for a gynecologist and buying baby books –despite her misgivings over his malingering lifestyle and his oddball friends.

Debbie, too, has to deal with her doubts regarding the young couple’s compatibility and her suspicions about her husband, Pete’s (Paul Rudd), fidelity.

Crude yet intelligent banter lightens the mood of the movie as the couple tread issues foreign to them such as pregnancy, love, marriage, adulthood and moral values. The characters are as endearingly relatable and candid as the talented actors behind them are amazingly believable.

Heigl, who is better known as Izzie on television’s Grey’s Anatomy, shows that she has the makings to become one of comedy’

s sweethearts such as the adorably cute Amanda Peet. Actors Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd reunite having worked together in the 2005 hit, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which may explain their on-screen chemistry.

Also an alumnus of The 40-Year-Old Virgin is writer/director Judd Apatow, who seems to be able to interpret the confusing relationships between men and women ingeniously. With Knocked Up, he proves he’s no one-hit wonder.

Knocked Up is a movie with plenty of laughs and is probably one of the better comedies to come by for a long time.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Movie Details:

Opens: Jul 26

Running Time: 130 min

Rating: M18

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd

Director: Judd Apathow