Geeks and freakouts!
"Superbad"
3 ½ stars
out of four
Opens today
Starring As
Jonah Hill Seth
Michael Cera Evan
Christopher Mintz-Plasse Fogell
Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Produced by Judd Apatow and Shauna Robertson. Directed by Greg Mottola. A Columbia Pictures release. Rated R (sexual situations, language, substance abuse, violence). Running time: 112 minutes.
I can't possibly relate the funniest jokes in the supreme teen comedy "Superbad" without violating most, if not all, the standards of a mainstream family newspaper.
Raunchy doesn't begin to describe the pile-on of gags involving drinking, sex, vomiting, drugs, homophobia, menstruation, hand-drawn phalluses and other gross subjects probably too tasteless to be included in a teen comedy just 10 years ago.
Nonetheless, "Superbad" is a super funny and -- surprise! -- super sweet little movie built around teenage guys' insecurities and fears. And they are legion.
The story takes place over a single night when chunky, verbose high school senior Seth (Jonah Hill) and his painfully shy best pal Evan (Michael Cera) head off on a mission to get some sex.
They plan to accomplish this by promising the hottest girl in school, Jules (Emma Stone), they'll supply illegal booze for her party. Seth explains that girls often get drunk and will have sex with anyone, even if it's a mistake.
"We could be that mistake!" Seth says to Evan.
Evan and Seth (named for scripters Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, who originally wrote "Superbad" at the age of 13) head out into the night, unaware they'll be tested by escalating disasters that make the labors of Hercules look easy.
Evan and Seth need a fake ID. That forces them to befriend Fogell, a brilliant archetype of dweebism etched with loving care by newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Possessing a voice like a wounded otter and a personality oozing with needy nerdiness, Mintz-Plasse creates an instant movie teen icon, up there with Sean Penn's Spicoli from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
Fogell has a fake ID that says he's someone named McLovin. From Hawaii.
But that's not as much of a problem as the robber who interrupts Fogell's booze purchase and sets the stage for a night of twisted terrors, especially after two adolescence-arrested cops ("Knocked Up" star Rogen and Bill Hader) practically abduct Fogell and take him on a joy ride with crashing cars and firing guns.
Although Greg "The Daytrippers" Mottola directed "Superbad," it brandishes the fingerprints of producer Judd Apatow, who directed and wrote the comic riots "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up." Like those films, "Superbad" doles out a boatload of hilariously offensive material but always laced with genuine affection for its vulnerable characters.
Stripped of its outrageous excesses, "Superbad" is really an exploration of young guys' inability to articulate their feelings, especially for each other. Co-dependent longtime pals Seth and Evan face impending separation. Evan has been accepted at Dartmouth. Seth hasn't. Neither has a clue how to express how he feels.
Opening up to girls? Forget it. The women in "Superbad" have been deliberately underwritten, simply because they don't yet exist as whole human beings for Seth and Evan, still stuck in teen views of women as objects of desire.
The secret to "Superbad" lies in the superlative casting. Bawdy Hill and restrained Cera share the sort of short-hand that lifelong buddies develop. With Mintz-Plasse as a third stooge, "Superbad" is up, up and away the funniest and most daring comedy I've seen since "Knocked Up."