(2007, 113 min) I've spent five years now trying to convince my wife that, though possessing a sometimes juvenile sense of humor, I am indeed a mature, responsible, caring, sensitive, romantic and giving guy. All that work went down the shitter when, leaving the theater, I remarked that Superbad may well be the most honest film about the mind of an adolescent male. Good thing the film came out in August, because trust me, that doghouse gets mighty cold in the winter.
In a word, "dick." Seth (Jonah Hill) is obsessed with dick. He claims to be obsessed with pussy, but of course, since he's never actually seen one, he's concentrated on what he knows. His total BFF Evan (Michael Cera) seems to have matured in the years between puberty and high school, and with precious little time before graduation, has his sights set on college... a college from which Seth was rejected.
Enter into this scene a golden opportunity: A popular girl throwing a party, and inviting these outcasts... as long as they can bring the booze. Seconds later, they scramble, finding Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), an outcast among outcasts, who happens to be wielding a fake ID, famously emblazened with a single word: McLovin. The day sets forth Ferris Bueller style, a series of vulgar misadventures, sex on the brain, and realistically marginal character growth.
Though capably directed by Greg Mottola (his first feature since The Daytrippers), there is no mistaking that this is a Judd Apatow movie. Unfortunately, it seems more bloated than his previous productions, especially surrounding an out-of-place subplot concerning McLovin and two immature police officers. One of those officers is played by Seth Rogen, who cowrote the screenplay with Evan Goldberg while they were in high school, and any guesses about the autobiographical nature of the characters can be answered by looking again at their names.
Yet the outrageous situations are grounded by these very real, very flawed and very open protagonists, with reams of quotable lines such as "You know how many foods are shaped like dicks? The best kinds" and "Nobody has gotten a BJ in cargo shorts since 'nam." As a bonus, the two-disc DVD promises to have even more outtakes that they couldn't cram into the movie. Sure, the movie is too long as it is, but I wouldn't want to miss any of the jokes from this immensely talented team.
© TLA Entertainment Group
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