In 2004, “Napoleon Dynamite” made it cool again to make an offbeat comedy about a teenage loser. However, “Superbad” producer Judd Apatow had been honing in on this scenario with “Freaks and Geeks” (1999) and “Undeclared” (2001), two TV shows that unjustly lasted for only a season.
“Superbad” is the newest movie from Apatow Productions and stars Jonah Hill, of “Knocked Up,” and Michael Cera, of “Arrested Development” fame.
Director Greg Mottola and writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have worked with Apatow several times, including on the shows mentioned above.
“Superbad” is told over the course of a day as the nearly graduates Seth (Hill) and Evan (Cera) try to celebrate the end of high school by going to the best party.
If you have seen “Knocked Up” (another Apatow production, released earlier this summer), then you’ll already know the plot of “Superbad:” Guy buys girl alcohol, guy gets girl drunk, guy then attempts with all the anti-geek he can muster to have his way with said girl. In this same way, the scenes are set up in that step-by-step fashion.
Later in the movie, Rogen makes an appearance with Tulsa native Bill Hader as two cops trying to find all this underage drinking, which is played off “Super Troopers”-style.
The movie is like “American Pie” without the euphemisms or metaphors. From the first scene with Seth (Hill) graphically describing what porn site he’s going to subscribe to and the voice-of-reason Evan (Cera) reminding him that his parents will see the bill, the movie makes a promise to the audience that it will honestly show and talk about what really goes on in high schools across the country.
The title and theme of “Superbad” suggests a ’70s vibe and, with the psychedelic opening credits, a Pam Greer blaxploitation flick, but these are oddly nowhere to be seen. A funk groove is always playing in the background, but isn’t really integrated into the movie, besides one Saturday Night Fever strut.
Also, Cera’s meek and mumbling performance is taken straight from his George-Michael Bluth character in “Arrested Development.” It’s entertaining, but he’s putting himself in danger of being typecast just as Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell have been.
Although, if there’s one thing that “Superbad” does well, it’s dialog. The movie is filled with one-liners, most of which are unprintable, that will surely be quoted for months.
Hopefully this won’t last as irritatingly long as “Napoleon Dynamite” quotes did. They are really the pulse and fabric of the movie, so if one fails, the movie skips a beat.
In the end, this movie is not as much a cultural revolution as “Napoleon Dynamite” was or quite on the level of “Knocked Up,” but it provides an hour and a half of entertainment that will leave the audience laughing and wondering what Apatow and company will pull off next.
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