'Superbad' review

Rating: **** out of ****

There is a shot in ‘Superbad’ that summarizes the whole movie’s mentality. It’s a stedi-cam shot that features the movie’s three heroes, Seth, Evan and Fogel on a city bus heading to a liquor store in an attempt to buy booze with a fake ID that will never pass. The team sits there among the masses, looking dejected and yet the whole scene is played to ‘Are You Man Enough’ by The Four Tops. It lets us know that being ‘Superbad’ is a state of mind; the folks on the bus can’t see it, but once our heroes get off the bus and back into high school life, they will be superbad because, after all, they have a fake ID.

‘Superbad’ falls in the tradition of movies like ‘Dazed and Confused’ where the whole story is self-contained in one day, culminating on that epic night where the characters’ lives will be changed forever, at least in their minds. This time around, it happens to be the night of the final high school party before the summer. Seth and Evan (Jonah Hill & Michael Cera) have been friends since grade school. They are now planning to go to separate colleges and be apart for the first time in their friendship. Their plans for the final party night includes getting booze for a whole party, having sex (or at least getting to third base) and secretly cherish their last times together – though in that true superbad way, they both know it without saying it. Meanwhile, their nerdy friend Fogel (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is caught up in a wild ride with some police officers (Rogen himself and Bill Hader of ‘SNL’) who commit more felonies than they prevent. A series of interlocking incidents occur and the adventure eventually leads everyone – even the officers – to the same party. Before getting to the party however, the boys go through a series of adventures that lead to car crashes, fistfights and detergent jugs filled with beer.

For a while, the high school of the movies was the most unbelievable place in the world. It was the place where mid-thirties actors played eighteen year olds, everyone was having sex, kids drove Mercedes’ to school, and every kid was wheeling and dealing drugs. ‘Superbad’, on the other hand, is the most realistic high school comedy since the original ‘American Pie’ and one of the most authentic ever made. In fact, Christopher Mintz-Plasse had to be tutored during production because he was actually in high school. ‘Superbad’ captures the youthful dreams of parties and third base that many films either fail at, or blow extremely out of proportion. Sure, some of the film is exaggerated, but that is understood; the characters in ‘Superbad’ though, like in real life, talk big but act small. They claim to be able to get booze and girls before they ever have either. There is a scene in which Seth says he’ll go get booze and fantasizes about an old woman buying it for him and then the two of them being murdered by a security guard.

Even though it does not say ‘based on a true story’ in the opening credits, you can tell that ‘Superbad’ is somewhat of an autobiographical tale, based on the high school careers of Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg, the film’s writers. Everything about ‘Superbad’ feels authentic, from the way the teens speak to the way they interact and their immediate goals; the latter comprised of ways to get girls and alcohol.

The film has an absolutely filthy mouth, with more profanities than a Tarantino flick I’m willing to bet. Nevertheless, its heart is pure. There is a bond between Seth and Evan that comes across so naturally on screen. I believe that these friends have been together since childhood. There is a scene in which Seth and Evan are lying drunk on a floor, and in their inebriation, have a genuine moment of platonic love between friends, summarized in the simple act of a hug and a pat on the back. It comes across as more authentic than hundreds of screen kisses I have seen. The film also ends perfectly, with a quiet resolution that simultaneously offers an understanding between Seth and Evan as to the future of their relationship and gives a message of hope for our heroes.

‘Superbad’ is the latest collaboration between Seth Rogan and Judd Apatow, the dream team behind ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’ and ‘Knocked Up’. Apatow isn’t in the director’s seat this time, rather as producer, but still, this film has his name all over it. It is the funniest film I have seen all summer and I found myself laughing aloud frequently in a packed theater. Entire lines of dialogue were lost to the laughter. After ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’, ‘Knocked Up’ and now ‘Superbad’, I can confidently say that the Rogan/Apatow team is the North American equivalent of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright.

(NOTE: A positive detail I noticed about the film: none of the character’s we’re supposed to care about does drugs in the film. Aside from a scene with some stoners at a party doing cocaine, there are no drugs in the film, not even marijuana. I thought this was a pleasant surprise as compared to most high school movies, which have kids casually smoking (cigarettes and pot), drinking and having sex. I know that may be the truth, but the whole point of going to the movies is to escape.)

'Knocked Up' review

Rating: ***1/2 out of ****

Coming from a small town, my friends and I didn’t have much to do except go to work, come home and party, BBQ and talk about our big plans for the future. It’s fitting then that I could instantly relate to the characters in ‘Knocked Up’. That’s what makes Judd Apatow’s follow-up to ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’ so great – anyone can understand it. It is so instantly relatable on a wide scale that anyone (working professional, slacker seasonalist, stay at home parent) can understand who the characters are and what their motivations are. Moreover, they are likeable people that I wouldn’t mind knowing and hanging out with. Apatow guaranteed this by making them multi-layered people of right here and now. There is no generation gap here. This movie is so current the characters literally talk about going to see ‘Spider-man 3’, and re-watching ‘Munich’.

Seth Rogan stole the show in ‘Virgin’, at times upstaging the great Steve Carell. Here he plays Ben, a slacker who lives with his friends. Ben has a career goal: start a website highlighting all the best nude scenes from movies. Had he done a quick search on Google, he’d find several already in existence. One night at a bar, Ben meets Alison (Katherine Heigl), an up and coming executive at E! who has just been promoted and is out celebrating. After a few too many, they end up back at Alison’s apartment and due to a miscommunication, end up having unprotected sex. Sure enough, a few weeks later Alison is calling Ben to fill him in that she’s (drum roll…) pregnant! Ben’s reaction to the news is priceless. Meanwhile, Alison lives with her sister, Debbie (Leslie Mann) and her husband, Pete (Paul Rudd), who question Ben’s abilities as a father. They’re having problems with their own marriage. Their relationship is a nice juxtaposition to Ben and Alison’s. While one relationship is struggling to begin, the other is almost ending. Paul Rudd once again is brilliant as he plays a man who feels as if life kicked in a little too quickly. In one scene, he summarizes marriage to Ben as an unfunny version of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ that lasts forever. Personally, some episodes of ‘Raymond’ can feel that way, but I digress.

From here, the story follows Ben and Alison over the nine months trying to develop a relationship but mostly trying to get to know one another. A lesser film would have had Ben trying to find any and every excuse to skip out on his duties or doing the bare minimum. Not here, as Rogan makes Ben a young man willing to change and mature due to his newfound responsibilities. You can tell that behind the profanity and razor-sharp wit, Apatow is a true romantic. The chemistry between Ben and Alison feels real. They grow to care for one another, never feeling forced or schmaltzy. Like ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’, here is a film that finds the perfect balance between bawdy, gross-out humor and a sweet, relationship comedy. It walks the line well, spilling equally into both territories.

Apatow has a talent for taking complex situations, which take place everyday, and placing them at the forefront of his movies. For example, he covered lifelong sexual/social ineptitude in ‘Virgin’. ‘Knocked Up’ handles the issue of ill-legitimate children. Apatow does not shy away from taboo subject matter; he places it right on display without it feeling gratuitous or exploitative. He’s making the freshest, most honest mainstream comedies today. Take the issue of abortion. It is inevitable that in this story – as in life – the question of abortion would rise. Apatow handles the situation so maturely that both left and right wings will be satisfied.

Running a little long (129 minutes), ‘Knocked Up’ feels like the extended edition of the DVD that made it to theaters. Nevertheless, I could sit and watch these characters time and time again. Should Apatow decide to revisit them, it’ll feel like catching up with old friends – they’ll just be taking their kids to go see ‘Indiana Jones 4’.