‘Superbad’ movie review: outrageous teen comedy is supergood

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Absurdly profane teen comedy makes American Pie look tame by comparison; no, there´s no nudity or pie fucking, just dialogue so vulgar that it reaches a near-poetic level.

Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) – autobiographically named after co-writers Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg – are semi-outcasts who have been invited to a party at the hot girl´s house on the last night of their last year of high school; their job of getting booze for said party proves to be a difficult one, however, and misadventures along the way make up the bulk of the film.

Tagging along with them is outcast-among-outcasts Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), whose fake ID reads “McLovin” (25, from Hawaii). Mintz-Plasse, a real-life high-schooler discovered at an open casting call, steals the show throughout, oozing an uncomfortable awkwardness that a professional actor would be hard-pressed to duplicate.

Raunchy to the extreme, but like just like producer Judd Apatow´s two previous films – The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up – film ultimately scores because of it´s heart.

Despite all the gags, these are real characters, with real emotions – the pain of being unpopular has rarely been presented so effectively.

At two hours, film does feel a bit long; lengthy scenes with cops played by Rogan and Bill Hader tend to drag the midsection down, though both actors seem to be having a lot of fun.

The incredibly explicit rapport between Hill and Cera is truly something to behold; this is the His Girl Friday of profanity-laced teen comedies.

Superbad

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Jason Pirodsky

Jason Pirodsky has been writing about the Prague film scene and reviewing films in print and online media since 2005. A member of the Online Film Critics Society, you can also catch his musings on life in Prague at expats.cz and tips on mindfulness sourced from ancient principles at MaArtial.com.

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