‘Superbad,’ not so bad
MARC CHOQUETTE
Staff Writer
For too long, the tales of the token high school adolescent boy were seen through the eyes of the popular kids — the “whatever dude” guys of the class, the jocks, the hard partiers, and the ones with the adequate amount of smooth-talking game to get the girl by the end of the movie.
The nerds, though, are finally getting their revenge, and getting their stories told. Recent films such as “Napoleon Dynamite,” “The Girl Next Door,” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” are showing that, with a few strokes of cringingly awkward ingenuity and downright weirdness, the former “rejects” and “losers” are now getting the out-of-their-league girls and out-smarting the cool boys in school.
“Superbad” (2007) builds on this new avenue in the way cinema is depicting the high school experience, but taken to a new level — replacing the ignorant, harmless, tetherball-playing Napoleon Dynamite, with the sweating, terrified, not quite 25-year-old Hawaiian organ donor named only “McLovin.”
Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (“Da Ali G Show,” “Knocked Up”) and directed by Greg Motolla (“Undeclared,” “Arrested Development”), the film follows a trio of very close, yet socially detached, friends in their last days of high school. Never having much luck with their female classmates, they put into practice the “now or never” philosophy. Each goes out on a limb to make something happen before time runs out and the scary prospect of college and separation from each other ensues.
The film stars Evan (Michael Cera), the too-polite, yet intelligent and relatively good-looking kid who freezes up when talking to girls, Seth (Jonah Hill), the out-of-shape, vulgar and somewhat perverted kid who likes to talk a big game while rarely backing it up, and the only real life 18-year-old, Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasee), the nerdiest and skinniest of the three who is coincidently also into hip-hop culture and attempting to act older than his age indicates (see “McLovin”).
The film is littered with ironic moments and blind luck, where just as you think one of the nerd trio is cornered and has no way out, an ingenious coincidence continues their plight of destiny. For example, when “McLovin” attempts to purchase alcohol underage and begins to have a nervous breakdown while the clerk checks his fake ID, a masked man runs through the door, knocking out Fogell, going for the register and getting away.
When the cops (Seth Rogen, Bill Hader) arrive and interview Fogell, they ask to see his ID and are so enamored with the name “McLovin,” (one thinks it sounds like a “sexy hamburger”) they decide to let Fogell keep the alcohol and take him under their wing to show their new buddy a night of mayhem that only cops can truly pull off without going to jail.
“Superbad” is rated R for good reason. It has its share of adult situations and foul language and is certainly not a film for the squeamish or sheltered. But, where similar films like the “American Pie” series relies on raunchy comedy and stays at a pretty shallow level with regards to character development, “Superbad” excels. You can empathize with each of the three in their own way.
One literally feels the nervous, embarrassed stomach feeling when seeing Evan stumble his way through a conversation with Becca (Martha Maclsaac). Add the raving rants of Seth into the mix along with Fogell’s own version of the English vocabulary, and we suddenly have one of the newest trios of comic genius.
The most important lesson in “Superbad” is the importance of true friendship. There are many occasions in the movie where one comes to the rescue of another or helps another see a situation differently.
Yet, the film also reaches farther, with many a moment to remind the viewer of the stifling feeling that can arise when people hang out with each other too much, the feeling that one is being “held back,” as Evan refers to when he gets into a shouting match with Seth — one of the more serious parts of the film.
On the surface, “Superbad” may not seem much different from other comedies about the high school experience, but digs deeper, with larger desires of the protagonists besides simply getting the girl.
Evan, Seth, and Fogell prove that even the nerdy kids can have their 15 minutes of fame and learn something in the process.
08-27-2007