Column:
'Superbad': bad?
Published Aug. 21, 2007
Announcement: for the foreseeable future, Judd Apatow can do no wrong. "Superbad", an Apatow production co-written by "Knocked Up" star Seth Rogen, takes after "The 40 Year Old Virgin" as one of the smartest comedies ever to appeal to our basest sense of humor. Rogen and co-writer Evan Goldberg have unleashed a teen comedy that shambles along like a Greek epic, moving to and deriving laughs from a variety of increasingly bizarre stops in the night of two high-school seniors who just want to get to a house party.
The seniors in question, played by Michael Cera and Jonah Hill, have spent their high-school years wasting time with each other. When they're invited to a party with days remaining before graduation, they see bringing booze as their chance to woo (read: get drunk and sleep with) their dream girls. The rest of the movie, which runs nearly two hours yet never stays in one place or worries about one thing long enough to drag, splits itself between their adventures and the adventures of the infamous McLovin (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse in his film debut), the pseudo-friend they reluctantly include in their plan because he has a fake ID.
Like "Knocked Up" and "Virgin" before it, the movie's success is due in large part to the excellent script. Rogen and Goldberg have written an eminently Apatow-like script, literate, filthy and garnished with pop culture references that avoid the obvious, except when the obvious is funnier. But "Superbad" wouldn't be the same without the acting work put in by the leads. Cera, who personified awkward in "Arrested Development," has an incredible future in comedy if "Superbad" is any indication. His subtle reactions — he's like a self-effacing version of Chevy Chase — and stammering delivery make him a comedic everyman in the tradition of Woody Allen or Tom Hanks. Hill and Mintz-Plasse, 24 and 18 respectively, seem so much like high schoolers and inhabit their roles so thoroughly that it would be easy to see them actually talking like this between classes.
The vast majority of 120-minute comedies would make very excellent 90-minute comedies, but the amazing thing about "Superbad" is that the extra half hour doesn't feel at all unwieldy. It's epic in scope, traversing suburbia with set piece after set piece, and there's just enough plot to keep things moving. Most importantly, this movie simply never misses. Every joke lands in the same place, and the movie builds up into some incredible, quotable moments. The movie has no rhythm because there are no downbeats, just a constant, unyielding stream of jokes.
"Knocked Up" means "Superbad" won't be quite as revolutionary as it would have been in another lesser summer, but it's still one of the funniest movies in recent memory. If you don't see it soon, be prepared to miss a lot of references over the next several months.
