| SUPERBAD |
 2007 - USADirector: Greg Mottola
- Reviewed by Vickie
Co-written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and loosely based on their own high-school exploits, the film follows a pair of social outcasts—hyper-sexualized Seth (Jonah Hill) and scrawny but sweet Evan (Michael Cera)—on a singular mission: get themselves to a grad party, get hammered and get laid. Joining them in their libidinous quest is their squeaky-voiced pal Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who, at the outset of the film, gets a fake ID under the name “McLovin” and winds up with an entire B story all his own. Directed by Greg Mottola, whose previous film was the comparatively benign The Daytrippers, Superbad is packed to overflowing with crude dialogue (those with more delicate constitutions may wish to avoid this one), sex jokes, sex talk, people having sex and one menstruation-related scene that defies description. What helps save it from being a mere shock-value comedy, though, is the cast. Hill, fresh off the successes of Knocked Up, Evan Almighty and last year’s Accepted, is so over-the-top desperate that, despite his dirty mouth, you can’t help but root for him. He’s a loser but, dammit, he’s determined and persistent and deserves credit for keeping his eyes on the prize in such a fervent way. On the flipside of the desperation coin is Cera, whose meek, nebbish, aw-shucks approach is equally funny but in a vastly different way. His approach may be much more timid and subtle, but his goal is the same...and I dare you not to laugh each time he gives a sing-songy “by-eeeeee.” Mintz-Plasse, meanwhile, is in his own world for much of the film, and half of his funny comes from his voice, his lisp and those glasses. Superbad isn’t a complex or thoughtful film, and the concept not terribly original—it’s a Utopian nerd fantasy where the geeks, however repellent-yet-lovable, get the hot girls and everybody wants to get their rocks off. Its prose won’t be winning any Academy Awards anytime soon and I’m sure parents would be aghast at its content (which is belied by the slapsticky trailers) but, as an end-of-summer teen comedy, it’s bound to leave its fans more than satisfied. |
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Superbad isn’t exactly my bag, but I can almost guarantee that
legions of teenagers and folks falling into the coveted 18-25
demographic will practically soil themselves out of love for this
raunchy and rowdy sex comedy. It’s funny, it’s dirty and completely
ridiculous...but in a way that generates a curious affection for its
hapless heroes.
