Scan and Pan
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Superbad
High school seniors Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are the best of friends, but they're not very successful with girls. When they're invited to the last party of the school year, they promise their respective crushes, Jules (Emma Stone) and Becca (Martha MacIsaac), that they'll supply all the alcohol necessary for the party. Their plan is that the young women will get drunk enough to actually sleep with them. Thus begins an epic quest by Seth and Evan to procure the alcohol with the help of their friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and his fake ID, all in the hope of finally getting laid before graduation.
The raunchy humor of Seth Rogen (the star of Knocked Up) and Evan Goldberg, both former staff writers for Da Ali G Show, isn't for the easily offended, but those who don't take offense will be rewarded with a good, sometimes uproarious comedy that just gets better as the situations become more complicated. The heart of the film is the genuine friendship between Seth and Evan (yes, the writers named the main characters after themselves), played out as a love story between two young heterosexual men. Underneath it all is a bittersweet recognition of the inevitability of change. While it does slow down a little toward the end, director Greg Mottola (The Daytrippers) generally keeps the antics going full steam ahead while taking an approach to the material that's more realistic than overly broad.
Russ T. Alsobrook (Reign Over Me) contributes solid cinematography using the Panavision Genesis digital video camera. Lyle Workman (The 40 Year Old Virgin) adds a funky score performed by a band led by Bootsy Collins, while music supervisor Jonathan Karp (Knocked Up) chooses an equally funky selection of songs.
Hill and Cera are spot on as the oafish Seth and the awkward Evan. Hill has the more difficult task of making an obnoxious character likeable, but he successfully navigates that tricky terrain. The nebbish Mintz-Plasse is a scene stealer as Fogell, whose acquisition of fake ID in the name of McLovin sets up so many of the film's comedic situations. Rogen and Bill Hader are hilarious as a pair of irresponsible police officers. Stone, MacIsaac, and Aviva Farber are quite good as the objects of Seth, Evan, and Fogell's lust, and their roles have more substance than the usual female characters in teenage sex comedies. Kevin Corrigan and David Krumholtz are funny in small roles as people at a party where Seth and Evan end up while hunting for alcohol.
Superbad may be rude and crude, but it's also genuinely funny and has something to say about friendship between young men. When it was over, my facial muscles hurt from grinning so often and so broadly, and can you really say anything better about a comedy than you'll smile and even laugh until it hurts?
[4 out of 5 stars]
Call this the summer of Judd Apatow. After writing and directing the hit comedy Knocked Up released earlier this summer, he returns as the producer of this hilarious if ribald film about friendship, horny teenage boys, and growing up.
High school seniors Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are the best of friends, but they're not very successful with girls. When they're invited to the last party of the school year, they promise their respective crushes, Jules (Emma Stone) and Becca (Martha MacIsaac), that they'll supply all the alcohol necessary for the party. Their plan is that the young women will get drunk enough to actually sleep with them. Thus begins an epic quest by Seth and Evan to procure the alcohol with the help of their friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and his fake ID, all in the hope of finally getting laid before graduation.
The raunchy humor of Seth Rogen (the star of Knocked Up) and Evan Goldberg, both former staff writers for Da Ali G Show, isn't for the easily offended, but those who don't take offense will be rewarded with a good, sometimes uproarious comedy that just gets better as the situations become more complicated. The heart of the film is the genuine friendship between Seth and Evan (yes, the writers named the main characters after themselves), played out as a love story between two young heterosexual men. Underneath it all is a bittersweet recognition of the inevitability of change. While it does slow down a little toward the end, director Greg Mottola (The Daytrippers) generally keeps the antics going full steam ahead while taking an approach to the material that's more realistic than overly broad.
Russ T. Alsobrook (Reign Over Me) contributes solid cinematography using the Panavision Genesis digital video camera. Lyle Workman (The 40 Year Old Virgin) adds a funky score performed by a band led by Bootsy Collins, while music supervisor Jonathan Karp (Knocked Up) chooses an equally funky selection of songs.
Hill and Cera are spot on as the oafish Seth and the awkward Evan. Hill has the more difficult task of making an obnoxious character likeable, but he successfully navigates that tricky terrain. The nebbish Mintz-Plasse is a scene stealer as Fogell, whose acquisition of fake ID in the name of McLovin sets up so many of the film's comedic situations. Rogen and Bill Hader are hilarious as a pair of irresponsible police officers. Stone, MacIsaac, and Aviva Farber are quite good as the objects of Seth, Evan, and Fogell's lust, and their roles have more substance than the usual female characters in teenage sex comedies. Kevin Corrigan and David Krumholtz are funny in small roles as people at a party where Seth and Evan end up while hunting for alcohol.
Superbad may be rude and crude, but it's also genuinely funny and has something to say about friendship between young men. When it was over, my facial muscles hurt from grinning so often and so broadly, and can you really say anything better about a comedy than you'll smile and even laugh until it hurts?
[4 out of 5 stars]
Comments:
Post a Comment
