Superbad

"Superbad"
Greg Mottola, 2007

At its roots, "Superbad" is a low-brow comedy about a group of high school friends trying to lose their virginity with their crushes at a party before they leave for college. The film gets off to a shaky start, with the chubby, foul-mouthed loser named Seth (Jonah Hill) spouting off nauseating remarks about how he'd like to have sex with girls until, finally, even his - extremely unlikely - best friend, Evan (Michael Cera), tells him to shut up.

If the writers, Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg, had decided to take the easy route, they would have maintained this boring level of crudity. Last year's horrendous film, "Good Luck Chuck," is an indication as to how boring and insulting a poorly-executed low-brow production can become. The primary reason I recall that film, though, is because of the similarity between Dane Cook's vulgar buddy and Seth. Fortunately for us, Rogan and Goldberg decide to take the relative high-road after the initial ten minutes.

Rather than drag us through the various mis-adventures of a bunch of jerks, "Superbad" takes us on a refreshingly simple journey with a group of socially inept people who are merely trying to be "cool." Sure, the film is filled with all kinds of contrived situations; however, the film's purpose is to relay its characters' extreme awkwardness, so this generally ends up working in its favor. The sequence in which Seth, Evan, and their nerdy friend, Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), attempt to buy alcohol for the party is particularly successful, and also quite funny, at making us identify with their inescapable awkwardness. For a low-brow film, "Superbad" ends up being far better than most films in its genre would indicate.

Rating: 7

First Viewed: 7/6/08, on Blu-ray disc
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