More Supersweet than Superbad...

Rating: 8/10 (16 February 2008)

The latest release from the Apatow stable, Superbad is their take on the teen rites-of-passage story. Two weeks before graduation, best buddies Seth and Evan face the dissolution of their long-standing friendship when they head off to different colleges. Seth's vulgarity and Evan's shyness keep them at arms length from the girls they are interested in, but as graduation looms and the chance to score at a party comes up, the two friends set out on a quest for alcohol and (hopefully) sex. Dragging along their nerdy friend Fogel, their well laid plan unravels into a series of misadventures and as the night continues it becomes clear the issue here is not girls, but what two best friends are going to do when life pushes them apart.
Make no mistakes here, Superbad is crass, rude and occasionally over the top, as most teen comedies are, but it keeps both the central characters planted firmly in reality. Seth and Evan are wonderfully portrayed by Jonah Hill and Michael Cera; I challenge anyone who was a teenage boy not to see at least some of themselves in them. The dialogue between them is funny and real; there are few moments where the humour is forced or unnatural. While the subplot of Fogel's adventures with two inept cops are over the top, they don't detract from the very real story at the movie's core. The movie's conclusion is perfectly in-key with this sense of reality, and is genuinely touching.
Superbad, for a crass teen comedy, has a warm heart beating inside it. While comparisons with American Pie and Porkys are bound to be made, Superbad is really in a class of its own; it's a funny, entertaining and above all fond homage to the writer's teen years, one that when it isn't tickling you with its well-observed humour it's showing you its soul - something most teen comedies don't.