After the frat pack started to fizzle out by the mid 00s a new bunch of younger comedians took their place. This stoner gang consisted of Seth Rogen, James Franco, Judd Apatow behind the camera, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd etc and they would rule the roost of Hollywood comedies for the next few years. Knocked Up is one of their first and one of the finest entries. This isn't a laugh riot but more about comedy with dramatic elements.

It doesn't sound too promising. Seth Rogen picks up Katherine Heigl in a dance hall, both of them drunk. A night of passion and she turns up preggers. Abortion being out of the question (this is a romantic comedy) the two of them must struggle through he condition for the following nine months. The pregnancy threatens her job at a TV studio and his way of life as a profound wastrel. It not only sound unpromising, it sounds familiar. Two mismatched people fall in love, give up their selfish ways, and have a cute baby.Yet the edgy comedy is deftly handled by the director and the performers, even down to supporting roles. It doesn't get truly sickening until the last five minutes or so -- after the excruciating birth scene -- and during the credits, at which time we see home movies and still photos of all those cute cooing tykes that we'd so far been spared.It's raunchy as hell with F bombs galore and some of the funniest scenes depend on that vulgarity but it's not adolescent. It's fully blown and mature.As much impressive as anything else is the picture it presents of life in Northridge, California. Oh, how the mores have changed since I was their age. The talk among men in my youth was always industrial strength -- but WOMEN or "girls" didn't use it, nor did young men use it when women were present. And even without women around, the curses were colorful but decorative. The swearing in this film is equal to that I'd only found in the military, mere punctuation with no semantic baggage. And the women use equally foul language. There's dope all over the place. And everybody hops right into the sack with whoever they pick up at a bar! Where was this life style when I NEEDED it? Oh, I'm -- I'm choking up. (Sob.) Seth Rogen is nobody's idea of a handsome man. At least I don't think so. He's chubby, has a halo of curly locks, needs a shave, and has a voice that suggests gargling. But he's a good actor and brings exactly the right characteristics to the role.I don't want to give away the jokes but I guess I can mention two, both involving small parts.(1) A desperately worried Rogen consults his Dad, the late Harold Ramis, and asks his advice. The advice? Stop worrying. Marriage is a wonderful state and children are a living miracle. Later, when Rogen's life is going to hell in a hand basket, he calls Ramis and shouts that the advice was all wrong. Reply: "I've been divorced three times -- how could you have listened to somebody like me?" (2) The pregnant Heigl consults a Chinese obstetrician who quizzes her about bad habits the way an aggressive district attorney attacks a defendant. "And how many cigarettes have you smoked? Hmm? How MANY?" You'll probably get a lift out of it. It's a knowing sort of comedy built around bits of reality that everyone will find recognizable.

Very typical current day romantic comedy ; unattractive, unworthy fat guy knocks up fairly cute (at least for him) out of his league , together gal, with predictable results. Since Hollywood doesn't give us suspense anymore, we all know how this will unfold. The "better than thou" girl at first doesn't like the guy, then his goofy antics and persistence eventually win her over. It has not changed for 50 years, except in the old days they would not have had sex until after they committed, where as today they have sex first, then figure it out later.I am not passing judgment on the hook up culture of today. I am passing judgment about every film being always the same. Apatow is no different- the male character is ugly, dumb, incompetent and needy, the woman is attractive, smart , independent and gets to make all the choices. Too bad in the real world even the fat guys are unavailable, since they just stay the the basement playing video games. Probably seen guys portrayal in films like this played a role.Some of the messages the movie sends could be negative for young people. Not the "knocked up" part , that is nothing new, but they portray the doctor as an annoying A-hole , even though he has brains and training beyond anybody who is in or made the film. No wonder the guy in it who plays the doctor (yes he is a real one) left being a real doctor (I'm not kidding) for a film career. Hey Judd-OB-GYNs work an average 90 hours per week, you wanna deliver your own kids? Show some respect.The acting is good , and some of the players like Hill are very talented comics. But I am worried about what a childhood and adolescence of seeing these films will do to a male. They always see themselves as negative, and if they have a male friend, they suffocate in self conscious "does this look gay, does that seem gay" gags. Makes you wonder what some of these filmmakers childhoods were like; Did they see any competent, worthy men?

I think there's been a general notion recently that, at least among the mainstream demographic, the Romantic comedy is dead. So with that in mind, there's some good news and bad news. The good news is that the genre has been saved by a gifted young writer named Judd Apatow. The bad news: It isn't very pretty.It's sad but true. His film is crude and does very little to restore confidence to the institution of fatherhood. The PTA in this child's future school district is rightfully going to be frightened to death.At the same time, "Knocked Up" probably comes closer to portraying modern romance more than any attempt at romantic comedy in recent years. As sad as it is to admit, romance these days is more about drunken hook-ups than it is about screwball-comedy-type courting and today's standard of chivalry might be a guy like Rogen's character, willing to commit to a girl he knocked up instead of Cary Grant.