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Title: Superbad (2007)
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"The Big Bang Theory" nerds are back for their 12th and final season. Since nerds weren't always the cool kids, let's look at how they've grown from outcasts into leading characters.
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jonah Hill | ... | Seth | |
| Michael Cera | ... | Evan | |
| Christopher Mintz-Plasse | ... | Fogell | |
| Bill Hader | ... | Officer Slater | |
| Seth Rogen | ... | Officer Michaels | |
| Martha MacIsaac | ... | Becca | |
| Emma Stone | ... | Jules | |
| Aviva Baumann | ... | Nicola (as Aviva) | |
| Joe Lo Truglio | ... | Francis the Driver | |
| Kevin Corrigan | ... | Mark | |
| Clement Blake | ... | Homeless Guy (as Clement E. Blake) | |
| Erica Vittina Phillips | ... | Liquor Store Cashier | |
| Joe Nunez | ... | Liquor Store Clerk (as Joseph A. Nunez) | |
| Dave Franco | ... | Greg the Soccer Player | |
| Marcella Lentz-Pope | ... | Gaby | |
Seth and Evan are best friends, inseparable, navigating the last weeks of high school. Usually shunned by the popular kids, Seth and Evan luck into an invitation to a party, and spend a long day, with the help of their nerdy friend Fogell, trying to score enough alcohol to lubricate the party and inebriate two girls, Jules and Becca, so they can kick-start their sex lives and go off to college with a summer full of experience and new skills. Their quest is complicated by Fogell's falling in with two inept cops who both slow and assist the plan. If they do get the liquor to the party, what then? Is sex the only rite of passage at hand? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
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I enjoyed "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," but didn't feel it was entirely worthy of all the enormous acclaim it garnered. And for all the praise "Knocked Up" received, I thought it was fairly average. So I wasn't expecting much from "Superbad." However, I'd have to say it's the smartest and funniest Apatow film yet. I know he didn't direct it, but his influence is distinct. And in the past I've felt indifferent towards Apatow's brand of humour, but combined with Rogen's sensitivity towards the teen condition here, it works really well.
People have compared it to John Hughes' better teen comedies, but I don't think the approach is entirely similar. "Superbad" is cruder, ruder, a bit more focused on the sex & alcohol jokes. But it works really well because it captures that dynamic - better than "American Pie" because it invests more care into its characters. One of the strengths of "Pie" over other films in its genre (such as, say, "Slackers") has always been its characters, and "Superbad" similarly relies on its characters for support. Plus, it's just really funny.
The performances all around are pretty funny, even if the Fogell/McLovin pop culture references are ruining a good joke (kind of like "Yeah, baby!!" ruined Austin Powers when 20-year-old frat boys around the country thought it would be funny to shout the phrase every five seconds).
Jonah Hill and Michael Cera have great chemistry and another one of the strengths of this film is that its teenage characters actually do look their age (even though Hill is in his early 20s, he still passes as a senior). But it was Bill Hader and Seth Rogen who stole the show for me as the clueless cops.
Overall this is just a funny, well-made film with heart. It doesn't mock its characters or their predicaments but casts a knowing eye on the high school experience. It captures all this very well and was certainly, in my opinion, far superior to "Knocked Up."