Film Review: Superbad 4 stars

Superbad is exactly what I was hoping for. It’s a movie where the nerds get the girls, drink beer out of laundry detergent containers, and get to shoot at a police car that’s engulfed in flames. I missed out on Knocked Up when it was in theaters so I made sure I saw Superbad and I was not disappointed.

The film is probably semi-autobiographical because the main characters/best friends Seth and Evan could be a young Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the writers of the film. Gee, you think? Their counterpart Fogell starts out as the annoying third friend but ends up so badass that he’s getting hauled away by the cops.

Just when you think Evan is actually going to get some action, he proves that he’s too nice of a guy to take advantage of a drunk Becca. Becca (Martha Maclsaac) is dead on with her portrayal of a drunken teenage girl looking to bed down the most innocent Evan. Seth, the fat kid friend of Evan’s clearly has some subconscious gay issues but I won’t give too much away. He tries to get with Jules (Emma Stone) but it doesn’t really work out as he planned. There’s even a platonic love scene between Seth and Evan which actually feels more poignant than icky.

The storyline featuring Rogen and Bill Hader as bumbling, intoxicated police officers Michaels and Slater is the highlight of the movie. They take in Fogell (aka McLovin) who is underage trying to buy some adult beverages at the liquor store. The success with scoring with the girls they like rests on if they can swindle some liquor and bring it to a party. As he’s about to check out and actually score the alcohol McLovin’s punched out by a robber who steals money from the cash register and bails. The rest of the movie the friends frantically try to get to the party with drinks for all.

There’s no doubt in my mind that this is going to be one of those movies we constantly quote from. The film’s pace slows down a bit toward the end but it flows nicely into the resolution. Superbad’s genius mess of action and vulgarity makes for a lot of hysterical laughing which is what I did throughout. Oh yeah, listen for an awesome Zack Morris reference and that Real Ghostbusters lunchbox to name a few.