Archived Edition: September 12, 2007 | Back to Current	Sep 09, 2010

Crude meets charming in 'Superbad'
Matthew Roach - SENIOR WRITER

In 1999, American Pie seemed to perfect the gross-out, loser-kids-trying-to-get-laid-by-the-end-of-high-school movie. And yet, Superbad, this summer’s hit comedy, outperforms American Pie in wit, quotability and cultural relevance – even though its two main characters fail to lose their virginity by the end of the movie. Meanwhile, Superbad also manages a heartrending sincerity that makes it more complex than the typical teen comedy.

Seth (Jonah Hill, who played the shoes guy from 40-Year-Old Virgin) and Evan (Michael Cera, best known as George Michael from television’s Arrested Development), are best friends who endlessly talk about sex, but lack any firsthand experience with the subject.

Seth is overweight and unbelievably crude, a source of constant slapstick humor and absurd sexual references. Evan is awkwardness personified – skinny, unsure of himself and definitely dressed by his mother. In the film’s opening scene, Seth and Evan have a philosophical conversation about what porn web sites offer the best services (fetishes, detail, lesbians, etc.) before Seth expresses jealousy that Evan’s mom breastfed him.

The movie’s subject matter only deteriorates from there, but Seth and Evan have an earnestness and charm that somehow makes their vulgarity hilarious, smart and even poignant. They incessantly talk about penises and vaginas with each other, it seems, because otherwise, they would be forced to actually talk to girls.

As lame as they are, Seth and Evan still think of themselves as slightly cooler than their friend, Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Fogell speaks with a lisp and a voice that cracks when he talks, and he often adopts a high-pitched, pseudo-hip-hop tone when he tries to sound cool – “Yo, yo, let’s get our drink on!” He also has a fake ID with the name “McLovin” – and only “McLovin” – on it. This ID causes some problems when Fogell attempts to buy booze for a high school party to which the boys have somehow managed to obtain an invitation.

Two cops, played by Seth Rogan (who co-wrote the movie and starred in Knocked Up) and Bill Hader (who stars on SNL), overlook Fogell’s obvious fake ID and take him joy-riding around town in their squad car, drinking beers and abusing their police privileges at every opportunity. This plotline is constructed to mock the personality and honor of small-town patrolmen everywhere, and I suspect that few Williamstown police officers will be walking out of Superbad happy.

As the movie moves forward, the final goal is the high school party where the boys are looking to score. Trying to milk every punch line possible, however, the filmmakers allow the movie run a little too long in the middle of the movie’s 114 minutes. The punch lines keep coming, though, even if the story stagnates, and the film is aided considerably by a foot-tapping soundtrack full of sweet ’70s jams.

Moreover, the film’s ending is phenomenal. At the party, the three boys each find a combination of surprising success and embarrassing failure with the girls they are after. What’s remarkable about these scenes is that they are at once realistic and riotous; the actors skillfully demonstrate adolescent drunkenness and its humorous pitfalls without seeming corny or cartoonish.

Superbad will likely be remembered for its barrage of one-liners, and deservedly so, even though (or should I say because) all of those lines are unprintable in the Record. But the movie’s final message does not celebrate the sex-at-all-costs machismo of American Pie. Instead, it glorifies the nice guy approach, and seems to mock the drunken promiscuity that has long been the cornerstone of the American teen movie – even as it mines that party culture for laughs.

Crass as they are, Seth and Evan have deep feelings for each other and the girls they pursue, and their ultimate realization of their dreams leads not directly to sex, but to conversation.

Superbad’s jokes are filthy, but its sense of human decency is unmistakable. This odd combination of humor and morality is hard to wrap your head around, but for Superbad, it works. The jokes make the message less preachy and the message makes the jokes less offensive. Thus far, Superbad is the best comedy of the year.