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Week Of July 23, 2007 - Mon / Wed / Fri
July 25, 2007
Toys In Babeland"You don't want girls to think you suck dick at fucking pussy."
That kind of says it all for Superbad. It is profane, obnoxiously stupid, and somehow precisely true. And you have to think about what was just said a few times while you are busy laughing at it.
There are dozens of other extremely quotable lines and moments from this film from producer Judd Apatow, the real teenage years of screenwriters Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg, played in the film by Jonah Hill (playing Seth) and Michael Cera (playing Evan), for indie comedy director turned hip commercial comedy director, Greg Mottola.
But it is the overall package that makes Superbad easily the funniest film of 2007 so far and the hippest, stupidest, smartest, and most sweetly profane comedy of what now has to be known as The Apatow Oeuvre.
Apatow, the producer/writer/director, is the hottest guy in Hollywood right now, filling the role of the guy whose sense of humor seems to match the audience's and who delivers a lot of content for a price. The classic fall for a guy like this is when he starts making more expensive films. Rising costs are what brought down the Farrellys and Jim Carrey... both of whom are so talented that they could come back at any moment. Adam Sandler, while his production costs have risen, has kept the spending relatively in check, so he has made himself into the commercial version of the 70s and 80s Woody Allen, production-wise, for the last eight years or so.
The 40 Year Old Virgin, Talladega Nights, Knocked Up, and Superbad will make four big money-making hits in a row. That is what (this year's) legends are made of. He is so hot that there are people talking themselves into Walk Hard (directed and co-written by Jake Kasden, who has been working with Apatow since Freaks & Geeks) being a potential Oscar racer. The comedy starring John C Reilly as a fictional, comedic version of Johnny Cash, is much more likely a cash cow than gold bait. But still...
Superbad is a film in many ways in the same great cheesy tradition of The Last American Virgin, Rock And Roll High School, Porky's and others that led to American Pie being such a big hit. But as much as I enjoyed American Pie, Superbad kicks its brilliantly formulaic ass.
The thing that separates Superbad is that rather than simply put together a traditional group of high school players to walk through a more modern version of the formula, it takes a more realistic approach. Everyone has the attractiveness of youth, but there is no one "beauty queen" as an object of obsession, the uncool guys have nice, gentle eyes and are actually subtly cool underneath their bravado, and the goals of this story are very simple and clear.
The film, for the most part, is one day and night in the life of Evan and Seth. Senior year is coming to an end. They know how much sex they have had or have not had to within a very funny fraction. One boy is desperate but honorable while the other is desperate and ready to take any shot he can get. The opportunity to finally be a part of the in-crowd arrives and the movie is the journey, trying to achieve that end in that one night.
This duo upholds the great tradition of the fat guy/skinny guy comedy teams, but more in the way of Laurel & Hardy than Abbott & Costello or (not fat) Martin & Lewis. Michael Cera's Evan isn't a disciplinarian, even if he is amazingly earnest. He needs Hill's Seth to get him moving and he knows it. And Seth needs a wingman he can count on, no matter what. But again, what works so well in this script is that the relationship gets flipped a few times during the film and we still believe it completely.
And Mottola knows how to let things go. When vomit flies, where it lands doesn't become a sight gag. When a woman is smacked in the head, we don't get laughs watching her head blow up. And when a car gets smashed, it stops working. The film is never desperate for a laugh, not matter how broad it gets.
Of course, any comedy team needs a universe of other characters in which to live. There are many here, but six supporting players who dominate. First, you have The Girls. Mottola, Apatow, Rogen, and Goldberg did a great job finding three girls you really haven't seen, were really, really adorable high school dream girls, but not traditional perfect beauties. Martha MacIsaac as Becca is one of the girls, who has to play a lot of potentially embarrassing scenes while never losing her wholesome dignity, no matter what obscenity might come out of her mouth. Emma Stone is a sexy redhead with a Violet Incredible haircut and a shy and surprising knowingness about her. And Aviva is an even redder head with "underage trouble" written all over her.
Then there are the wacky cops who get caught up in the story. Here you have the now-famous Seth Rogen, sporting a non-curly do and SNL's Bill Hader as The Man/Men. I won't tell you another word about them, other than they twist the cops-from-a-high-school-comedy thing in a hysterical pretzel.
And finally... saving the best for last... McLovin himself... Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fogell. The last time a guy like this showed up, it was DJ Qualls in Road Trip, a movie he basically stole. Then there was Tim Busfield in Revenge of the Nerds. Before that, writer Doug Kenney suited up as Stork in Animal House, though he was not one of the major characters of the film. Mintz-Plasse's performance is a showstopper because it is so earnest, so reckless, and so joyous... all the while being the nerdiest guy in any room... at least in our minds... never in his.
How all these pieces mix together is for me to know and for you to find out at the movie theater. But again, what is so striking about this movie is how big its heart is. If there was a single clear flaw in the also-gentle Knocked Up, it was the third act relationship shifts. Why? And how did they really navigate them was never quite clear. But here, every moment, however surprising, feels completely natural. We know why guys really behave why they behave. We know that girls, when they get down to their honest feelings, are often emotionally open, even when they have big ol' walls up against dangerous boys. We know these kids. We were some of these kids, whether we are 15 or 50.
Superbad is not a teen fantasy fulfillment movie, even though some fantasies are in play. It is a recognition, to some extent, of high school through the eyes of someone who knows what he knows after going to the fifth reunion.
It is one of the off features of Superbad that it has no time. It has opening credits from the 70s, certainly elements from the 80s and 90s, and things like ubiquitous cell phones and lots of porn and fellatio references that are from this millennium. This too helps build the universal.
In odd way, it is more like a teen Carnal Knowledge, circa 2000, than a teen goof. It is not nearly as cynical or rangy in the maturing evolution of sex and romance, but in an era when pre-teens learn about sex on websites more graphic than full-out porn was in the 70s, what would you expect. This is a Carnal Knowledge for kids who have spent their adolescence talking blow job, rim jobs, and donkey shows, but have given, received, or seen none of the above (or three-quarters of one).
But mostly, it is laugh out loud, how far can they go while I still believe that craziness is real, piss in your pants, have great sex in the car on the way home funny.
That makes four great movies this summer... keep it coming!!!
E Me.
Week Of April 3, 2006 - Life In the Bubble - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of April 10, 2006 - List Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of April 17, 2006 - Review Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of April 24, 2006 - Overlooked Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 1, 2006 - Mystery Week - Tue / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 8, 2006 - How We Watch Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 15, 2006 - Premature Week - Oscar Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 22, 2006 - B-13 Mon / Inconvenient Wed / Fri
Week Of May 29, 2006 - Wed / Fri
Week Of June 5, 2006 - 666 Tue / Iraq Doc Wed / Seattle Fri
Week Of June 12, 2006 - SIFF Mon / SIFF Wed / Fri
Week Of June 19, 2006 - Cinevegas Mon/Deliver Us Wed/Prada Fri
Week Of June 26, 2006 - Pirates Mon / Super Again Wed / Fri
Week Of July 5, 2006 - Wed
Week Of July 12, 2006 - M. Night Mon | You, Me & Wed | Monster House Fri
Week Of July 17, 2006 - 8 A Year Mon / Water Wed / Revamp Fri
Week Of July 24, 2006 - Comic-Con Mon / Gossip Wed / Fri
Week Of July 31, 2006 - Mel G Mon / Talladega Wed / Fri
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Week Of August 14, 2006 - No Column Mon / Wed / Snakes Fri
Week Of August 21, 2006 - Snakey Mon / Anniversary Wed / Scoundrels Fri
Week Of August 28, 2006 - Mon Love / Berloff Wed / Fri
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Week Of Janiuary 3, 2007 - Best Of 2006 Wed
Week Of Janiuary 8, 2007 - Mon / COM Book Wed
Week Of January 17, 2007 - Little Red Writing Hood Wed
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Week Of February 5, 2007 -This Thing We Do Wk - Mon / Wed / Fri
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Week Of February 26, 2007 - Rough Oscars Mon / Zodiac Wed / Doc & Foreign Fri
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March 14 / March 21/ March 28
Week Of April 4, 2007 - Wed / Grindhouse Fri
Week Of April 9, 2007 - Indie Distirbution Mon / Star Ranking Wed / Top 20 Fri
Week Of April 16, 2007 - Mon / Piaf Wed
Week Of April 23, 2007 - Mon / Tribeca Wed / Costner Fri
Week Of April 30, 2007 - Spider Mon
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Week Of May 14, 2007 - 10 Thing Studios Don't Want Wed / Fri
Week Of May 21, 2007 - Mon / Pirates Fri
Week Of May 28, 2007 - Knocked Up Friday
Week Of June 4, 2007 - Hostel 2 Mon / Ocean's Wed / Seattle Fri
Week Of June 11, 2007 - Sopranos Mon
Week Of June 18, 2007 - Mon / Sicko Wed
Week Of July 2, 2007 - Xanadu Fri
Week Of July 9, 2007 - Mon / Hairspray Fri
