Review: Superbad

At this point in his career, if Seth Rogan says it’s funny, the suits at the movie studios believe it’s funny. The Knocked Up star is a co-writer and co-star of the comedy Superbad. It has plenty of laughs, only they’re not necessarily the kind that make for a memorable film, unless you’re a teenaged male who is wanting desperately to lose your virginity – which seems to make up a goodly amount of the theatre audience.

Superbad follows the misadventures of two best friends who are about to be separated for the first time when one plans to move away for college. They’re determined to make the summer after high school a memorable one, although one of the kids is sweet and respectful of the object of his desire while the other is more like a wannabe rutting weasel. Enter the duo’s sorta-friend #3 and his ill-fated attempt to secure booze for a student party and two certifiably insane cops who happen upon the scene.

There isn’t much that’s repeatable about Superbad except for a very funny singing scene and some wild antics involving the destruction of a cop car. Did it make me laugh? Yes. Often and loudly. Would I recommend that you see it? Not at all. My laughs were mainly involuntary and of the I-can’t-believe-they-did-that variety. Superbad brought to mind those long-ago, innocent, halcyon days when a bit of misplaced “hair gel” in There’s Something About Mary was the most startling and gasp-inducing gag on the silver screen. Superbad goes super-far to elicit a chuckle, much to the delight of teen males everywhere.