This week’s dandy is &#8220Knocked Up” (B) – writer/director Judd Apatow’s follow-up to the 2005 hit &#8220The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” which only confirms what &#8220Virgin” first suggested – Apatow is a very talented man.

The premise of &#8220Knocked Up” is simple. Ben (Seth Rogan) is a mid-20s fun-loving stoner slacker who meets Alison (Katherine Heigl), a career-minded young woman, one night in a bar. The unlikely couple have a one night stand that goes nowhere.

But eight weeks later, she discovers she’s pregnant, forcing Ben and Alison to both re-examine their lives and potential relationship.

&#8220Knocked Up” works thanks in large part to a strong cast and Apatow’s ability to stretch a seemingly razor-thin premise into a well-developed (OK, maybe too developed) final product.

Rogan, one of Steve Carrell’s friends in &#8220Virgin,” continues to establish himself as a delightful comedic actor, but also shows a soft side that helps make the romance a little more believable.

Heigl helps make the premise more believable, too, with a solid performance as the film’s voice of reason. She doesn’t really get many comedic moments in &#8220Knocked Up,” but she proves more than capable of holding her own with the rest of the cast.

The supporting cast is outstanding as well, especially Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd as Alison’s sister and brother-in-law, who are constantly at each other’s throats.

Apatow’s screenplay is sharp, with plenty of wit and funny banter. But that also proves to be the one major problem with &#8220Knocked Up.”

The film is well over two hours long and there is a stretch – especially in the middle third – where the film includes random scenes that almost feel like they should have been part of the DVD’s deleted outtakes (which are included). But that’s easy to overlook because, honestly, most of the time those scenes are very funny.

If Apatow could have found a way to trim the material just a bit, &#8220Knocked Up” could have been a great comedy. As it stands, it’s still very good – good enough to increase the Apatow fan base that was already pretty large after &#8220Virgin.”

&#8220Knocked Up” is rated R for sexual content, drug use and language and will be available on DVD on Tuesday.