Superbad

August 17th, 2007 by James Cook | Source:

Directed by: Greg Mottola
Written by: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg
Starring: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen, Martha MacIsaac, Emma Stone

Score: 9/10

I’ve been anticipating Superbad for a while now, much like the rest of the movie going public. It seems like forever since we were given the first trailer, and they’ve been teasing us ever since with red band trailers, clips and TV spots. Well the wait is finally over, Superbad has arrived!

Set over the course of one night, best friends Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) have come to realize that their time as high school students is coming to an end, and both of them will be going to different colleges. They set out to go to their first high school party in the hopes of hooking up with their two dream girls.

Seth and Evan have been put in charge of getting the booze for the party by the two girls they are hoping to impress, Jules (Emma Stone) and Becca (Martha MacIsaac). They enlist the help of Fogel (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) their extremely awkward third wheel who has gotten his hands on a fake id and decided to use the alias McLovin. This infuriates Seth and becomes one of the funniest recurring jokes throughout the movie, and with a name like McLovin the possibilities are endless.

Like many movies that focus the story over one night the characters separate and have their own side stories. Mclovin’s begins when he tires to buy the booze for the party and is knocked out cold by a robber. He awakens to find two police officers (Seth Rogen, Bill Hader) at the store investigating the situation and they quickly take a liking to Fogel’s alter ego McLovin. They offer him a ride to the party and set off on the McLovin/Cops adventure.

McLovin’s side story becomes a big part of the movie, and at times it feels like it is taking time away from Seth and Evan’s adventure. The police characters are pretty ridiculous and while they are still very hilarious, at times they seem to be a little out of place, almost as if they should belong in another movie altogether. Bill Hader once again proves that he can work it on the big screen. After being the only good thing about Hot Rod and now this, here’s hoping he leaves SNL soon and just focuses on movies.

The story was handled really well. It’s nothing totally original, but there is a lot more believability given to the characters. Most sex comedies tend to get really ridiculous really fast and can hurt the story. One of the big differences was that the two main characters don’t seem like they are completely out of their league with the girls they want. In fact the girls seem to be just as interested in Seth and Evan, and at times equally as awkward.

Overall, Superbad is the second funniest movie of the year. Number one still belongs to Knocked Up, but these two movies would make for the perfect double feature. It also goes to show that great writing and well crafted characters are what make a great comedy, and it’s something that Judd Apatow and gang are able to demonstrate time and time again.