Superbad

It’s actually SuperGood!

So here comes the third comedy from the guys that bought us The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. I wasn’t a huge fan of Virgin, but genuinely enjoyed Knocked-Up and based on that had pretty high expectations for Superbad.

I really enjoyed it, it’s very funny from start to finish, though it has to be said that the majority of the big laughs are in the first half. As with Knocked Up, the funniest moments come from the characters and their conversations, rather than elaborate set pieces. This is why the first half is much better, as this involves a lot of scenes where the three main characters are together just talking, once they get split up and the story begins to unfold in the second half, things start to slow down (though it never gets boring, it’s just not on par with what came before).

The story is relatively simple and is essentially told over the course of one day. It isn’t highly original (not a bad thing here), and revolves around three guys wanting to get laid before they leave for college (and hopefully having lots of practice before they get there) as Seth says “You don’t want to suck dick at fucking pussy (when you get to college).”

This leads to them heading to a house party and trying to obtain lots of alcohol to get the girls drunk and thus into bed. The plot can be summed up quite simply by this quote -

“You know when you hear girls say 'Ah man, I was so shit-faced last night, I shouldn't have fucked that guy?' We could be that mistake!”

And so the crude humour and very funny conversations begin…

What gives this story it’s foundation and soul is the bond between Evan and Seth (the two leads), as they are both dealing with the fact they are going to different colleges. Two best friends since childhood upset about going their separate ways, and not wanting to admit it to each other or themselves. This is where the films heart lies and it does a very successful job of conveying their relationship, without ever seeming forced.

The stand-out for me is most definitely Seth played by Jonah Hill, nearly every line of his dialogue is extremely funny and most definitely quotable. He delivers his lines with pitch-perfect timing and comedic flair, he is one to watch in the future.

As with most comedies, going into any more detail or explaining particular jokes is a waste of time, as it’ll ruin the film, so I shall leave it at that.

Overall this film is very good, it delivers laughs and a cohesive (if rather straight-forward) story from beginning to end, and will make you wish you were 17 again.

8.5/10