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"Knocked Up" knows that making audiences laugh is serious business, an important insight that results in the smartest, sweetest Hollywood comedy since "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." But don't think that's a coincidence: Both films come from the mind of writer-director Judd Apatow.

Apatow's deft combination of a wide range of jokes—including gross-out gags, pop culture references, absurdist humor and character-driven comedy—with astute observations on romantic relationships makes him one of the few mainstream filmmakers even attempting comedy for adults these days. Fortunately, he's good at it, and he has a knack for finding the perfect actors to bring his material to life.

Seth Rogen, who played one of Steve Carell's buddies in "Virgin," steps comfortably into the lead here as Ben Stone, a slacker who sleeps, smokes pot and "works" on a celebrity nudity website with four equally underachieving friends. He's essentially the polar opposite of beautiful, straight-laced, career-oriented E! news reporter Alison Scott ("Grey's Anatomy" co-star Katherine Heigl, showing true movie star potential). And yet, faster than you can say "impaired judgment," the unlikely pair stumble into a drunken club hook-up that leads to a one night stand that leads to Alison getting—you guessed it—knocked up.

Facing big decisions about the future, Ben and Alison look to Alison's sister Debbie and her husband Pete as relationship role models. Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd, both "Virgin" vets, lend excellent comedic support as the (mostly) happily married couple. All four of these key characters are so well drawn, and expertly played, that they shine in every possible combination—including Ben and Pete's male bonding and Alison and Debbie's sisterly support.

"Knocked Up" scores points simply for being a comedy that doesn't feel like a sketch stretched to feature length. But by examining several stages of relationships simultaneously—single life, dating, marriage, pregnancy—and providing big laughs in the process, it also becomes the first major summer movie truly worth talking about.

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