Okay-Bad

Rating: 6/10 (27 December 2007)

Those with a penchant for the highly crude will probably faun over SUPERBAD. Perhaps I'm becoming too much of a prude or simply don't find crude behavior for the sake of just being crude funny. I grew up during the Jeff Spicoli phase when FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982) was the epitome of the upcoming culture clash between my parents' world and the emerging one that I would inhabit during my early adulthood. True, there was crude behavior in Fast Times (the "how-to" lesson on oral sex stands out still today), but it was liberally sprinkled throughout with plenty of simple laughs.
With Superbad, the F-word is used more times than in any other film I've ever seen. And it's true that some teens do talk like this, but that doesn't mean we need to hear it in every sentence just for shock value or to prove some linguistic point (whatever that might be ...maybe to set a record?) What gave this film its pull (in my book) was the plot surrounding two youths ready to graduate from high school and having to deal with their impending separation as they prepared to go to different colleges. They were Seth (Jonah Hill, KNOCKED UP) and Evan (Michael Cera). Both are hiding their feelings about the upcoming separation and deal with it by arguing and trying to buy booze for a party where two girls they like are headed. Mixed amongst them is an extreme geek named Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who has a fake I.D. with a fake name: McLovin. No first name. Just a last one ..from Hawaii. And he's an organ donor. But they have what they have and must get their alcohol quickly. They send Fogell/McLovin into a liquor store where he is promptly assaulted by a robber who cold-cocks him and steals all the cash in the till. Waiting outside are Seth and Evan who then see a cop car pull up and are freaking out. Will Fogell/McLovin go to jail for this? But the cops are waste cases themselves. Officer Slater (Bill Hader also of KNOCKED UP) and Officer Michaels (Seth Rogen, SHREK THE THIRD) take young Fogell/McLovin into their confidence and into their squad car; they agree to take him home with a few stopovers. This trio is often waylaid by their own stupidity, blazing through every red lighted intersection, breaking up barroom brawls (after which they order thirteen beers ...to go), and generally not giving a crap about serving or protecting anything but their own butts.
Meanwhile Seth and Evan are trying to get some booze  any booze!  so that they can get to the graduation party and the girls that await them there. Seth battles multiple hits from automobiles and finally lands up at another party where he has to deal with being exposed as a "man-gina" and swiping alcohol via detergent containers. Evan just wants to get to the party which sparks angry retorts from Seth.
Eventually the two do make it to the correct grad party and peel off with their respective sexy gals. Seth wants so badly to lose his virginity that he drinks himself into near oblivion, while Evan discovers that having sex for the first time with a drunk girl isn't all its cracked up to be.
The party is quickly wrapped up as our two unenlightened cops show up and break up the party ("We assume you all have guns and crack.") Thankfully the cursing slows down toward the middle and end of the film allowing one to actually focus on how the story unfolds rather than how it's verbalized. The hysterically funny ending is both cringe-worthy and guffaw appropriate; two boys acting like two girls ("I can say I love you!") Your enjoyment of Superbad will depend on how much you enjoy letting your mind revert back to a more primal state versus something funny because it IS funny and not designed to gross you out or shock you.