Superbad
By Jason Revill
It seems like every time you turn around Judd Apatow is opening his barrel of monkeys and a new film comes rolling out. Granted this latest one, Superbad, is simply produced by him with a little helpful script doctoring, but it definitely has his brand. Unfortunately, it may be similar to Apatow’s other endeavors, but this one is by no means up to the same standards as anything else that has had his name attached to it.
Like every movie involving teenagers going to college, Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are obsessed with having sex before they graduate high school. When their friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) acquires a fake ID, they hatch a plan to impress their dream girls by buying the alcohol for their party. Unfortunately Fogell decided to change his name on the ID to “McLovin” and from there the plan pretty much derails. The boys end up being split up with McLovin riding around with a pair of lousy cops (Seth Rogen and Bill Hader) after a liquor store robbery; while at the same time Seth and Evan end up at sketchy party with a bunch of coke heads. The three of them beg, borrow, steal and do anything else they can to get to the party with the booze in hopes of seeing some action.
I like Jonah Hill a lot, but assuming that I’ll find him funny no matter what he says is a miscalculation on the filmmakers part. Too much of the humor hinges on the fact that if he says the filthiest thing possible it will be hilarious and sometimes it is, but too many times it isn’t. Let’s face it through most of the movie instead of looking like a teenager his looks like he’s thirty and recovering from a hangover. On top of that, his character, Seth, is a complete dick. I’m not surprised this guy can’t get laid and I don’t really care if ever does. Don’t assume I’m going to root for someone just because they’re the main character.
Michael Cera as Evan is unfortunately overshadowed by Hill. Cera was blatantly underappreciated on Arrested Development, but next to Hill’s vulgar rants his mastery of stilted dialog and awkward pauses can get lost. Cera’s character is also meant to be the heart of this picture, but unfortunately the sentiment seems tacked on and ultimately a bit superfluous.
I wish someone would explain to me what’s so damn funny about McLovin. I like him more in concept rather than in execution. To be honest, even though I think his storyline is more interesting than Seth and Evan’s, it isn’t that great. Basically what all of this talk has gotten us is a guarantee that we’ll have a couple Christopher Mintz-Plasse supporting roles in the future to prove that he wasn’t as funny as everybody thought he was. The same thing happened to John Heder after Napoleon Dynamite and he ain’t that funny either.
I guess when it comes right down to it, my problem just seems that Superbad just isn’t clever enough to pull off the crass humor. I know I’m going to sound like my father here for a second, but trust me I love filthy humor. I don’t have any sort of social barometer of my own, but if you’re going to make a movie like this the raunchiness needs to come out of the humor not just assume that if you say the crassest thing possibly laughs will follow. A perfect example is there’s a scene involving a bodily fluid a la There’s Something About Mary, although it’s a different fluid, but rather than being absurdly clever about it, the joke just devolves into characters literally pointing at said fluid and saying “Hey, look at that”. That’s not a joke. It’s just trying to shock someone into laughter. That’s the film version of fake vomit, and for the record it’s not vomit either.
There have been a lot of comparisons of Superbad to other “classic” movies like American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused, but if you want to know a secret, I’m not a big fan of those films either. I know as a “movie guy” it’s not really cool for me to say that, but the truth of the matter is that those movies aren’t as good as people pretend they are. The only reason anyone likes them is because their soundtracks are full of songs that you kind of like, but never listen to.
Don’t be mislead this isn’t a terrible movie, but critics are falling over themselves telling you how good Superbad is and how McLovin is a classic teen comedy character. Well the truth of the matter is that it’s pretty funny, but not as funny as you’d expect it to be. The way critics were talking, I half expected that by the end of the movies I’d get laid. It’s funny, but mostly in the way that kids who aren’t supposed to see it will find funny. There’s no reason this many reviewers should be getting behind one movie, particularly one as filthy as this. There’s Something about Mary didn’t get reviews this good and it’s become a classic. Basically what you’ve got here is a situation where everyone is going on about how good this film is and when Apatow’s next movie comes out, no matter how good it is, everyone’s going to say how it’s not up to his normal par. Think of it as a market correction. Meanwhile, you’ll know better.
The Grade
- Story: B-
- Acting: B
- Visuals: C
- Originality: C
- Enjoyability: B-
- Overall: B-
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