Life lessened

Knocked Up (rated R for sexual content, drug use, and language), the latest comedy from the team behind 2005's surprise box-office success The 40-Year-Old Virgin, is a crude, profanity-laced raunch-fest that hides a surprisingly pro-life underbelly.

When Alison (Katherine Heigl) and Ben (Seth Rogen) discover that their one night of drunken debauchery has resulted in pregnancy, they each turn to their respective parents for guidance. Alison's mother recommends that she get an abortion until she is ready for a "real baby"-a shockingly cold reaction compared to Ben's father's reaction to the news. He celebrates and assures his son that babies are always a blessing, even if the circumstances are less than ideal. Later, as the film's credits roll, pictures of the cast and crew with their own infants fill the screen.

Unfortunately, none of this is enough to overcome the film's lax attitude toward sex nor its dim view of marriage. After watching Alison and Ben scream obscenities at each other on numerous occasions, it seems hard to believe they will ever live happily ever after. But the very fact that some clearly juvenile filmmakers have hit on the truth that a baby in the womb is as much a life as the one cradled in its mother's arms is encouraging.