Belly Laughs

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At times, "Knocked Up" will make you squirm in your seat.

But that won’t matter much — for most of the movie, you’ll be on the floor, collapsing with laughter.

Yes, this latest comedy from "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" auteur Judd Apatow and pals may be rude and crude. Scratch that — not "may be." Is. Yet it’s also seriously hilarious — and undeniably sweet. That’s a tough balancing act, but Apatow manages it.

Not always with aplomb, mind you. For one thing, Apatow’s visual style isn’t quite on a par with his verbal wit.

And delivering a raunchy comedy that runs a whopping two hours-plus is the cinematic equivalent of a pregnant woman who’s in her 10th month: more than a bit bloated and in desperate need of getting on with it already.

Those are minor quibbles, however, compared to the major laughs (and major insights) Apatow brings to this tale of a one-night stand with life-altering consequences.

And in "Knocked Up," the lives altered couldn’t be more different.

In this corner: Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl of "Grey’s Anatomy"), a rising star at E! Entertainment Television, who’s just been promoted to on-camera correspondent.

Understandably elated, she celebrates her promotion by hitting a hip-and-trendy L.A. club — accompanied by her very married, very uptight sister Debbie (Leslie Mann, Apatow’s real-life wife).

But the movie’s inevitable meet-cute introduces her to a most unlikely suitor: the aptly named Ben Stone (longtime Apatow favorite Seth Rogen).

An unrepentant stoner who works hardly at all — unless you count his strenuous efforts at maintaining arrested-development status — chubby, schlubby Ben is the last guy Alison would ever bother with. Sober.

Because she’s definitely less than sober on this particular night, Alison and Ben spend the evening together — and then, back at her place, spend the night together.

Just another one-night stand. Until the fateful day, eight weeks later, Alison discovers she’s pregnant. And that — horrors! — Ben must be the father.

It’s a shock to the happy noncouple, who agree to get to know each other for the sake of their surprise collaboration.

It’s also a shock to those closest to them. In Alison’s case, that includes not only her sister but Pete (another Apatow all-star, Paul Rudd), Debbie’s equally disgruntled husband, who may love his wife and children but doesn’t necessarily love being married.

Sharing Ben’s shock and awe — or, more precisely, razzing him unmercifully about it — is "Knocked Up’s" geeky Greek chorus, made up of Ben’s hapless housemates (Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel and Martin Starr), his partners in a dubious Internet enterprise dubbed Flesh of the Stars, which tracks on-screen nudity.

Little wonder that Alison turns to mother-of-two Debbie for some been-there-done-that counsel, while Ben and Pete do some quality bonding — especially during a riotous Vegas road trip in which they experience the mysteries of Cirque du Soleil’s "Mystere" while stoned on ‘shrooms.

Throughout, writer-director Apatow mines comedy gold from such pivotal life moments as the pregnant waiting-for-the-pregnancy-test-results pause and the search for the perfect ob-gyn. He also demonstrates his pitch-perfect ear for hilariously profane, testosterone-fueled dialogue — and for more tender (relatively speaking) sentiments generally relegated to Hollywood chick flicks.

As a consequence, "Knocked Up" emerges as a rare sighting of the proverbial something-for-everyone release. (Everyone old enough to see an R-rated movie, that is.)

None of this would work as well as it does, however, without the endearing and astute performances that bring the movie’s rueful truths to life.

As Debbie and Pete, Mann (whose bitchiness covers up a world of losing-her-youth hurt) and Rudd (once again demonstrating his mastery of outwardly affable, inwardly despairing characters) provide a distorted mirror-image of marital happiness that serves as a warning to Alison and Ben.

Yet, somehow, we can’t help feeling that these two mismatched misfits might make it work — thanks in large part to Heigl and Rogen’s persuasive teamwork.

Heigl’s not afraid to embrace Alison’s anxiety and confusion over her pregnancy — or the crazed, hormone-fueled comedy that results.

And Rogen cements his leading-man breakthrough with a performance that personifies "Knocked Up’s" irresistible mix of the coarse and the charming. Like a puppy dog who leaves messes all over the floor, slobbers all over you and knocks things over with his constantly wagging tail, he’s infuriating — and irresistible.

So, happily, is "Knocked Up."