Posted: 08/19/2007

Superbad

(2007)

by Matt Wedge

Even though Judd Apatow didn’t write or direct Superbad, it’s his name as producer that’s being used to sell this latest “teens go looking for booze so they can be popular at the party and score with chicks” movie. And why not? He’s on a seriously great run that has made him Hollywood’s current go-to guy for raunchy R-rated comedy. But without a more involved hand in the creative side, the films he has produced have come up a bit short. While both were funny, I don’t think anyone can argue that Anchorman or Talladega Nights come close to matching the sustained hilarity of The 40 Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up. So the question becomes, can Superbad aspire to meet that level of inspired gut-busting comedy? The answer is a resounding yes.

Seth (Jonah Hill, Accepted) and Evan (Michael Cera, Arrested Development) are best friends staring down the end of high school. Together, they are a veritable two-headed monster of insecurity. Seth deals with being overweight and unpopular by approaching anyone that might be a threat with an aggressive attitude and a foul mouth that fails to filter out some of the more offensive thoughts that spring from his brain. Evan is painfully shy and so uncomfortable in his own skin that he tries to disappear into the walls and clamp his mouth shut, lest he mumble something particularly embarrassing. Their only friend is Fogell (newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse), an extreme version of the classic scrawny, bespectacled movie nerd. When Seth finds himself being asked by a popular girl to get liquor for a party she’s throwing, their routine lives of playing video games and discussing which porn web sites to subscribe to are sent into upheaval as they spend a riotous (and sometimes surreal) night trying to make good on Seth’s promise to be her boozy knight in shining armor. And that’s all there is in way of a plot. So why is the movie so funny?

The first answer to that question is a ruthless and surprisingly frank script by Seth Rogen (who shows up as a police officer who’s even more juvenile than the teen protagonists) and Evan Goldberg. They understand that no matter how bad things get for our heroes, the audience has to be able to laugh at the terrible things that happen to them while still feeling awful for the situations they keep getting themselves into. They wisely give both of the leads characteristics that keep them believable as real teenagers and what the pressures of high school and impending college separation can do to them. They are selfish, cruel (they treat Fogell like dirt simply because he’s even more of a loser than they are), manipulative, and spiteful. They also have moments of gallantry and truly touching vulnerability. It also helps that they put a never-ending fount of jokes in their mouths that run the gamut from highbrow Orson Welles references to absolutely filthy one-liners that would make Lenny Bruce blush.

The other strength going for the movie is the stellar cast. Cera and Hill play off each other in such a natural manner that it doesn’t seem like an act. They truly are those kids you see at the mall who talk a big game to each other, but never do anything more than watch the girls walk by. Their natural chemistry combined with an instinctive understanding of comic timing would be enough to carry the movie on their own. Fortunately, they don’t have to. Along with the solidly comic turns of Rogen and Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live) steals nearly every scene he’s in as Rogen’s partner on the police force. With a straight face and a soft voice he keeps his Officer Slater sympathetic even as he consistently abuses his authority to usually hilarious and sometimes violent results.

What’s most refreshing about the film is that when you step back and look at the cast, they look and act like normal people. This is a characteristic in most of Apatow’s productions back to Freaks and Geeks. Not only is it more believable to cast actors that aren’t physically flawless, it also helps the audience identify with their characters. For all of the dirty jokes, gross-out gags and moments of physical slapstick, the characters remain believable and ground the film in reality.

The ending is a little sugary and slightly out of synch with the rest of the movie. But it’s a sin that’s easily forgiven. The rest of the film is so full of great lines, hilarious and slightly dangerous situations that always become worse than you expect, and honest performances that it more than makes up for that slight misstep. This is a great film that makes us all remember what kind of a special hell high school really was and that it’s okay to laugh at those painful memories.

Matt Wedge is a writer and film reviewer in Chicago. He has become slightly paranoid, making claims that Michael Cera must have watched footage of him in high school to prepare for the film.

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