Superbad (R)
Mike:
Scott:
Scott: Tonight I am reviewing Superbad
, a movie about high school boys trying to fit in and maybe meet a chick or two.
Mike is out of town this week.
What did I think?
I thought this was one of the funniest movies I have seen in a while. After seeing Hot Rod, a movie I thought was going to be funny, but absolutely wasn't funny, I was worried about this movie. After all, there were a lot of high expectations for this movie. The movie was produced by Judd Apatow, the guy who directed and/or wrote and/or produced Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Those movies are some of the funniest released in the last few years.
The movie, whose screenplay was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg while in high school, is not your normal high school movie. For one thing, you are hardly in the school. It was odd, but most of the movie you see the three main characters, Seth (Jonah Hill), Evan (Michael Cera) and Fogell/McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) around adults. You see them at bars, in stores, and college age+ parties, but hardly ever with the kids their age. That fact alone separates this movie from most others people will tend to lump it with.
Between the 3 main actors it's hard to say whose character I liked the most. Hill's Seth had a tendency to get annoying with the constant cussing and abusing his friends. It wears on you throughout the movie and at some points is so over-the-top, that you just wants certain scenes to end. He is funny though and some of the best lines in the movie are his.
Cera's Evan on the other hand, is a nice guy. He's quiet and seems to only put up with Seth out of an odd kind of sympathy. You really don't know if he could have other friends, you just know he doesn't. It may be that he is Seth's friend because Seth told him to be his friend. Even though the circumstances surrounding their friendship may be unusual, you know they consider each other best friends and would be hard pressed to get along without one another.
Mintz-Plasse's Fogell may be the most fun of the bunch. His character is hopelessly un-hip and clueless about that fact. He's the kind of guy that thinks his dad's 70's era suit vest is a hip thing to wear to a party. The crazy thing is, it almost works for him. His lack of knowing how ridiculous he sounds or acts is what makes him so funny and sincere. Everyone knew that one kid in high school that was too awkward to be a cool kid, but never knew it. This was that guy. Great character, great performance.
We also get to see three nice young actresses as the 'lust' interests for the boys. We don't get to know them really well, but I thought they played their roles nicely. Emma Stone was Jules, the more mature and somehow more worldly girl of the three. Seth has a crush on her from the beginning. Martha Maclsaac is Becca and she is throwing herself at an oblivious Evan throughout the whole movie. Her scene with Evan where they share a phone call is hilarious. Lastly, Aviva as the sluttly Nicola, was what we needed her to be, that girl in school that dresses way too hot and looked way too good to still be in school. Most of her scenes were shared with Fogell and I enjoyed all of them. The interaction between the vacuous vamp and the goof was spot on.
The real Seth, as in Seth Rogen is also in the movie. He, as Officer Michaels, and Bill Hader, as Officer Slater, try to show us that police officers can be cool. The way they 'Protect and Serve' should concern all Americans. It's not that they are bad cops really, it's just that they do all of the things you think cops do, the stuff that they shouldn't really be doing. Makes for some funny scenes though.
Director Greg Mottola hasn't directed many movies, but wouldn't you know, he's directed some Arrested Development and Undeclared episodes. Rogen and Apatow are Undeclared veterans and Cera is an Arrested Development Alum. The film flowed well with only the scene at the drugstore running too long.
What do I rate this?
I give it a 3.5 overall and a 4 for comedy. It was funny school comedy that was different enough from the rest of the genre to stand out.
