Superbad Review

Well, if nothing else, we can thank this movie for bringing the phrase "period blood" to the forefront.

That was just one of many, many, many funny/profane riffs in the latest comedy from the Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) machine. Though Apatow directed those other two films, he merely serves as a producer on "Superbad" and his touch behind the camera is missed

The story centers around BFFs Evan (Michael Cera) and Seth (Jonah Hill) trying to score booze so they score during one crazy night toward the end of the high school year. Later...wait, that's all there is to the plot of this movie. As with all Apatow productions, there is a mixture frank sex talk and sweetness though, for the first time, the combination feels a bit off in "Superbad."

A lot of that probably has to do with the fact that I kinda hated Jonah Hill's performance as the obnoxious Seth. I get that Seth is supposed to be a loudmouthed, immature pain-in-the-ass and that he's supposed to be a contrast to the smarter, understated (and brilliant) Michael Cera.

But there are WAY too many scenes with Evan and Seth where Hill is just standing there screaming his head off at Cera and, not so much reciting dialogue but, trying to think of the most outrageous (and not necessarily clever) things he could possibly say. There are ways to do this without being so grating (see Vince Vaughn in "Wedding Crashers"). Though Hill DID get some funny lines in, those scenes mostly worked thanks to the way Cera played off him. I love me some Michael Cera (in the dark) and I hope he becomes a movie star for a long time.

Also making his presence felt was scene-stealer Christopher Mintz-Plasse's Fogell, better known from all the previews for the film as "McLovin." In fact, after an ill-fated attempt to get alcohol with a fake ID, the movie splits off between Evan and Seth's journey and the adventures of McLovin and two loony cops (co-writer Seth Rogen and Bill Hader). The fact that I thoroughly enjoyed the McLovin/cops subplot more than the storyline with the main characters is probably not a good sign.

Neither is the fact that, in my one slight annoyance in Apatow comedies, the women are mostly attractive blank slates and get almost none of the funny lines. In "Superbad" Evan and Seth are after high school cuties Becca and Jules, respectively, who...well, to be honest, I can't tell you a damn thing about them other that they're both vaguely cool in a way that a male writer would write a woman character who's supposed to be kinda cool. In the end, that's probably because the movie is really a love story between two guys, and I enjoyed the sweet scene near the end where each character learns to let go.

This is still one of the better comedies of the year. I liked the funky soundtrack used throughout the film to make these "uncool" characters look badass and Seth's many "creative" drawings were inspired. There is also a sequence that captures the feeling of being stuck at a scary/weird party pretty well.

If it sounds like I'm underwhelmed it's because I had sky-high expectations for this one and, while there were funny moments, a lot of the jokes (especially in Jonah Hill's case) came off as more an attempt to shock than an attempt to make somebody laugh. Also, after naming my fantasy football team "The Sexy Hamburgers", the line wasn't even in the movie. Boo!

Superbad...B-