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Judd Apatow's burgeoning comedy empire has experienced another major success with Superbad, and it's easy to see why. The $20 million Greg Mottola-directed, Apatow-produced film is a teen comedy of the American Pie ilk, yet it is not another mere imitator of earlier genre successes. Superbad's prime distinguishing factor is the fact that it feels real - the main characters are uncool geeks, as is often the case, but the girls that they covet are not all Playboy centrefold material and, at risk of delving into spoiler territory, there's no nicely wrapped up ending either. Basically, these are people that any average teenager could know, and it increases the attachment to these kids that develops over the two hours we get to know them.
The plot is average fare: two social outcast high school seniors agree to supply a hot girl's party with booze in a quest to get laid, but the problem, of course, is that they are not yet 21 and so are under the US legal age to buy alcohol. This is where Fogell comes in. While Seth (Jonah Hill, looking like a young Chris Penn and dropping a copious amount of f-bombs) and Evan (Michael Cera, who is visibly younger than his on-screen buddy, but it doesn't really matter) are an entertaining and likeable duo, Christopher Mintz-Plasse's Fogell steals the show. Fogell, equipped with a fake ID which says his name is simply "McLovin", is a comedy creation par excellence. The plot strands diverge when Fogell plucks up the courage to enter a liquor store, with Fogell/McLovin having numerous misadventures in the company of two loopy cops who offer to drive him to the party and Seth and Evan, believing that he has been arrested, trying to get alcohol by other means. The trio of McLovin and the two police officers (played by a riotous Seth Rogen, who co-wrote the screenplay, and Bill Hader) make this strand a treat, easily outshining the still-enjoyable other half. The squeaky-voiced debutant Mintz-Plasse is a talent to watch in the future.
Everything comes together brilliantly for a hilarious and surprisingly touching third act. It is in this final stretch where the endearing personalities really pay off, meaning that we care about what happens to them. Some reviewers have complained that the female characters are simply objects and that the film is chauvinistic, but they're missing the point; the story, which was inspired by the teenage experiences of its two writers (who gave the lead characters their names) is told from the viewpoint of the horny teenage boys and to them girls are a mystery. And anyway, by the end it's clear that Superbad's real focus is the relationship between the guys and not their quest for sex - Seth and Evan finally admit that they'll miss each other when they go to different colleges and their emotion feels real and heartfelt.
The summary
While not flawless, Superbad stands tall amongst its teen comedy counterparts. Laughs are plentiful but it's the emotional investment in the characters that really sets it apart.
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