SparkLife » At the Movies: Superbad

At the Movies: Superbad Aug 21, 2007

Critics have called Superbad the definitive teen raunch comedy of our time, doing for teens today what Fast Times at Ridgemont High did in the eighties and American Pie did in the nineties. It doesn’t hurt that the movie was co-written by Judd Apatow, the comedy auteur who has charmed audiences by infusing his sweet coming of age stories with gross-out gags to great success in The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Sounds like a guaranteed hit – but does it work?

Absolutely. Though it’s not quite as successful in practice as it is in theory, there’s no question that it’s one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long time. The movie single-handedly makes the teen raunch comedy both relevant and appealing again, even though the whole genre was pretty much run into the ground by all of those direct-to-DVD American Pie sequels. The movie reminds you of just how many comedies you go to and don’t laugh all that much – you may chuckle here and there, but you rarely get those consistent, full-out belly laughs that make the price of admission worth it. The movie is unrelentingly funny, and strikes a good balance between completely disgusting (yet hilarious) slapstick and a heartfelt authenticity that’s rare in most movies about teenagers.

Superbad follows two best friends hitting the end of senior year and realizing that their codependent friendship just won’t be the same when they head off to different colleges. Seth (Jonah Hill, last seen in Knocked Up) and Evan (Michael Cera, best known for his role as George Michael on Arrested Development) find themselves in the unlikely position of having to supply booze for a blowout bash hosted by Jonah’s crush Jules (Emma Stone). Guaranteed to be there is Becca (Martha MacIsaac), the girl that Evan’s been making eyes at all year in math class. Naturally, everything goes wrong. Their attempt to buy liquor goes horribly awry, and their gawky third wheel Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) gets whisked away for a night on the town with a pair of irresponsible cops, leaving them to wander from mishap to mishap in search of supplies to ensure that the party’s a hit and they get the girls.

While the structure of the movie is predictable, the jokes are nothing but, and the movie is most successful when it wanders from the teen comedy template to just riff on the character’s quirks (Seth’s unusual childhood preoccupation is a noteworthy example). The actors are charming and well-suited to their characters, and thankfully everyone looks and acts pretty much like actual high school students. While some of the situations are completely over the top, the interactions between the characters are poignant and believable. . The movie made me feel a little nostalgic for high school – something that pretty much never happens to me – and has some nice things to say about what it means to really love a friend while learning how to let them do their own thing.

Like all of Apatow’s movies, Superbad is really about what happens when boys have to face the fact that they need to grow up. Naturally, there are a lot of penis jokes to ensure that it doesn’t get too deep. On that note, a word of warning - if you’re easily grossed out or offended, you’ll probably want to steer clear of this one. Also, its’ not the kind of movie that you want to be spend sitting in a darkened theater next to your parents - you’ll be in for a pretty uncomfortable two hours.

What did you think of Superbad?

Photo: CreativeLoafing.com