Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen should be behind every comedy

Rating: 10/10 (28 August 2007)

Superbad...wow. Not only does it take the cake as best comedy of the year, it definitely ranks among the greatest comedies of all time. It's so good that anyone who takes it for what it is and doesn't analyze it bit for bit will enjoy it. On display here is masterful comic acting from all of our stars, not to mention an irresistibly sweet story with lovable characters, all out fun situations, and a night both the characters and audience will never forget.
Seth (Jonah Hill; Knocked Up) and Evan (Michael Cera; Arrested Development) are exact opposites. Seth is sex crazed and cocky, while Evan defines sweet and nice. Despite this, the two have been best friends all throughout high school. Now, as their senior year winds down, they realized that they need to throw one party to show everyone that they're more than losers, and to get in their respective crushes' pants. What ensues is the pursuit of alcohol through their idiotic and geeky friend Fogell, better known as McLovin (Chris Mintz-Plasse). Their adventures will lead them through crazy parties, ideas involving detergent containers, and two cops (Bill Hader and Seth Rogen, both of Knocked Up) who seem a little too immature to be cops.
You can't say enough about the acting, as everyone is stellar, with Chris Mintz-Plasse and Bill Hader stealing the show every time they're on screen...but this doesn't downplay the talents of Hill, Cera, and Rogen, as all three have great comedic ability. Cera finds ways to make the All American nice guy seem irresistible to women, the audience included, with his shy stutters and uncanny ability to make a simple short line hilarious. Hill's character has been seen before, but it's a breath of fresh air to see how he does it...I noticed a lot of lines that probably weren't meant to be funny, but Hill does things as simple as yelling to get us to laugh. Both of our leading men are absolutely great and have a bright future ahead of them. Chris Mintz-Plasse, or as I will refer to him for the remainder of this review, McLovin, is awesome. Despite this being his first movie, he, much like Hill, turns the simplest line into one of the funniest moments of the film. The guy is simply priceless in the most memorable comedic character of recent memory. Bill Hader and Seth Rogen...wow. Hader is simply hilarious as Officer Slater, and I'm now a huge fan of this guy, much like I am of Rogen. At first, it seems like Rogen plays the same character all the time, but I feel a difference in each character. He has a way of giving us a distinguishable characteristic in each of his characters.
Of course, Rogen doubles as a co-writer with Evan Goldberg (Seth and Evan...see the connection?). They wrote the film when they were a mere 14 years old, but it's brilliant comedy helped along by the new King of Comedy Judd Apatow. But when you think about it, it makes sense...teenagers writing a teen comedy. Why didn't anyone think of that before? Rogen and Goldberg write some of the best jokes I've ever heard, and just like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, they range from layered and intelligent to childish, vulgar, and just plain stupid. Lastly, I haven't forgotten our great director, Greg Mottola. Motolla keeps us entertained for the entire duration, which is thankfully shorter than Knocked Up. There are so many subtle things in the movie that you can definitely see are from the director's mind. Motolla is just a part of this crowd after directing Cera in a few episodes of Arrested Development, and Rogen in Undeclared.
Superbad contains some strong and explicit jokes that aren't appropriate for most viewers. Anyone under 17 should wait until they're old enough to understand...or risk getting kicked out by the theater staff.
10/10