Superbad Review: A Most Misleading Title
August 27th, 2007 in Actors, Comedy, Movies, Reviews
Judd Apatow is quickly becoming Hollywood’s best commodity. A recent Sunday Times article told Woody Allen to move over, as Apatow is the man of comedy. While The 40-Year-Old Virgin is no Annie Hall, both directors do tend to have a touching and honest approach to the comedy of everyday life. While I have yet to see Knocked Up, its consistently good reviews and audience reaction can only suggest that Apatow is on a roll as writer/director. However, he is also a successful producer, and has made Superbad, a film scripted by Seth Rogen (the loveable stoner from both Virgin and Knocked Up).
Taking from the typical American Pie-esque genre of teen sex comedies, Superbad is the tale of two high school seniors, Seth and Evan, who, after realising their lifelong bond will be separated due to different college opportunities, decide to make one last attempt and scoring some chicks and ending their schooling lives on a high-note. This means utilising the fake ID of resident nerd Fogell in order to get enough booze to impress two desired girls, with plenty of complications in between.
Superbad is instantly distinguishable from other films in its sub-genre. The highly scripted nature of American Pie’s gross-out gags were amusing enough, but this film feels fresher, due to the more conversational script by Rogan, and to the tendency for the actors to ad-lib, just like in Apatow’s Virgin. It generates a vibrancy to the dialogue that makes the humour more real. But further kudos must be given to Rogan’s script, which in itself has plenty of good gags. Never, for example, have I seen so many ways to sketch a penis, while also referring to Citizen Kane a few minutes previously.
The performances by Jonah Hill and Arrested Developments’ Michael Cera are excellent, but they, and the plot, are overshadowed by the arrival of Bill Hader and Seth Rogan himself as two misfit cops who take Fogell (who is now known as McLovin from his fake ID) on a mischievous drive around the town, from using their sirens to beat traffic lights, to constant light-sabre fights, to burning their own car.
Of course, the only problem with all of this is that originality is a little on the low side. The film is really a mix between American Pie and Reno 911, with a dash of The 40 Year Old Virgin if they were younger. The plot and tension between the protagonists has not only been done before, but is probably the basis for all teen-comedy films.
Superbad is a misleading titled, for it is neither super in its humour or storyline, nor bad like many of its teencom predecessors. Instead, it is a slightly filthy and rather honest comedy with genuinely amusing moments. Superbad is currently storming the box office after being the Number One film two weeks in a row, and will hit Europe from September.
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