Carnal Knowledge 2007, Before and Beyond

Rating: 10/10 (20 August 2007)

If the term, "a teenage sex comedy" is mentioned in human conversation, some glory-hounding tight-end, whether they be a clergyman, politico or parent, gets irate, damning the film before seeing it because it exploits (often true) the raging sexual hormones of bright-eyed adolescents and making it a definite no-no for all ages. With its title inviting obvious and lame jokes from movie critics, "Superbad" does exploit, but does more and better than (God helps us) the transparent "High School Musical" movies to display kids growing up.
A smart but socially defective pair of tadpoles, carnal-crazed blob Seth (Jonah Hill of "Accepted" and "Knocked Up") and reflective, philosophical stick Evan (Michael Cera of the under-rated sitcom, "Arrested Development") seek copulation sessions with first-class ladies to lose their virginity and have good reps before going to separate colleges: nice girl next door Becca (a sweet Martha MacIssac) is in Evan's sights while Seth wants to "hump" future Ford Model Agency candidate Jules (Emma Stone). By a stroke of good luck in home-ed class, Seth gets the job of booze courier to Jules's pre-graduation soirée (NOTE: Underage alcohol drinking is WRONG). Evan helps out and is invited as well.
So does Fogell (rookie Christopher Mintz-Plasse), a squirrel-brain nerd who's euphorically naive to his "nerdiness" and fawns over tarty-like Nicola (an underused-by-time constraints Aviva). He irritates Seth more than usual with his fake ID alias; the pleasantly subversive "McLovin'" will be immortalized in comedic film history after this review is composed.
For the geeky trio, however, the journey to the "sweet spot" is harder than it supposed to be. Hilarity ensues and, boy, does it ever.
Smutty and profane as it is, "Superbad" is anything but (lame, but original joke), with an ace, Shakespeare-like script by longtime chums Seth Rogen (lead player of the hit "Knocked Up") and Evan Goldberg, who wrote the first draft when they were thirteen (!) and competent direction by Greg Mottola ("The Daytrippers"). Like the maltreated-by audience, double-feature treasure "Grindhouse", the film is in love with the 1970s, the decade where films got loose with sex, violence, drugs and vulgar lexicon, with its' funkadelic soundtrack and silhouette dancing intro sequences (provided joyfully by the two leads). Even Sony Pictures, the film's distributor, resuscitated the old Columbia Pictures animated "curtain opening"; the iconic torch lady morphs into a fading sunset, after a blinding flash.
Hill and Cera come off as a teenage version of the protagonist duos that infest the films of Kevin Smith (yes, the film is a love letter for him, and I wouldn't be surprised if he liked it too), but green-eyed Mintz-Plasse, who got the role after spending time on Myspace.com, is a scene-stealer esquire, having an aura of honest awkwardness. Like the madcap Jason Mewes in Smith's oeuvres, Mintz-Plasse's damn real and damn proud of it.
The ladies give depth to their roles, being crucial to the tale. Though some may find the injection of two gonzo cops (Rogen and "Saturday Night Live" member, Bill Hader, who perfectly echoes earlier player Dan Aykroyd) to be a worn-out visit, the two "Lost Boys with badges and guns" are essential and a barrel of hearty chuckles.
It may be a stretch, but "Superbad" might be the greatest teenage sex comedy around, examining the tempestuous link between friends who have to be to survive in the jungle of high school and see carnal knowledge as a way out of the hole of social exclusion. Every generation, past and present, has their nerds, geeks...you get the idea...who don't fit in because they go left when everybody's goes right (I know since I was a geek in high school, but an angry one at that). Sexual intercourse seems to be a way out, but adolescence, let alone sexual innocence, isn't forever and must be cherished before it's gone, and relating to the opposite sex is a mandatory duty, if one wants to have sex. Besides, the fact a geeky boy is the future boyfriend/husband of a high class woman is undeniable. Otherwise and sadly, there'd be more school shootings.
Unless you're never were geeky or were but too chicken crap to admit it, "Superbad" is required viewing.