Superbad

UK Release Date. 14 September 2007
Certification. 15

Running Time. 1 hour 53 mins
Director. Greg Mottola
Cast. Michael Cera, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Seth Rogen, Emma Stone.
Rating. 62%

Review.

Whether it's Porky's or American Pie, The Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles, Fast Times At Ridgemont High or Little Women, every generation has its own defining teenage sex comedy. And Superbad may just be the teen sex comedy for the Noughties.

The premise,

"You know when you hear girls say, 'Ah man, I was so shitfaced last night, I shouldn't have fucked that guy?' We could be that mistake!" 

Superbad, like many teen sex comedy films before, downplays the concept of consent and normalises and legitimises alcohol-fueled date rape under the guise of teenage hi-jinx. Set aside the subject matter [I appreciate that may be more difficult for some than others], and Superbad is astonishingly foul-mouthed, crude and tasteless – but equally, it's more confident and more mature than many of the aforementioned films. 

You’ll laugh at Superbad. You may laugh with the characters or at the characters. You may even hate yourself for laughing, but you will laugh, I guarantee it.

Superbad centres on two inseparable friends, Evan and Seth (played by Michael Cera and Jonas Hill, respectively) who have three weeks left of High School before they depart for college. Different colleges. That means they have three weeks left to lose their virginity.

Michael Cera effortlessly embodies the awkward, sensitive Evan, excruciatingly unaware that his unrequited love is indeed reciprocated. Jonas Hill, as Seth, is the complete opposite. But opposites attract and for the most part, there is a genuine believability in the relationship, through a natural chemistry between the two young actors. 

However, it is newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse that steals the show as Fogell, and his alter ego, McLovin. The McLovin storyline is perhaps the highlight of the film. Only when you pause for breath do you reconsider the far-fetched nature of the storyline. None of it makes sense, any sense at all.

The script is tight and the dialogue flows naturally. Superbad is a well-trodden exposition into the minds of teenage boys, and frighteningly it genuinely feels like the inner workings exposed. Without the charm, or naivety of Good Boys, Superbad nonetheless evokes aspects of a storyline that is all too familiar to many of us.