At the Movies: Superbad

A deliberate throwback to the good old days of mindless teen sex comedies of the early 80's (witness the Charlies Angel's-style opening credits), Superbad is damn funny, but not quite as funny as its spiritual predecessor, Knocked Up. I'm not going to rehash the plot (guys want to get laid so they try to buy booze for the hot chicks), but want to say what I liked about the move.

I think that the screewriters (one of whom was Seth Rogen, who starred in Knocked Up) absolutely nailed the despair that teenagers not in the "cool" clicks in high school feel at ever getting laid or being cool or having their moment in the sun. I thought that while most people would find the character Seth's insistence that they get the booze at any cost and his willingness to forget everything decent and right in the pursuit of getting laid was pitch perfect. Michel Cera as his best friend, Evan, was excellent, but I wouldn't expect anything less from him after his work in my favorite TV show of the last decade, Arrested Development.

There were a number of things that didn't work in the film (the time focused on the two bad cops spent in the film was excessive, but when one of them is played by the screenwriter and executive producer, what do you expect?), and some of the jokes weren't all that funny. But the film has heart and respect for its characters (which is why it's not a direct child of 80's sex comedies), and it's very, very funny. Oh - and the super homoerotic scene in the sleeping bags after a night of drinking and failed attempts at sex? Pricelessly uncomfortable.