The Rant: Superbad

I actually saw this Saturday but, decided to wait until today to post the rant because:

1) I needed some time to let this movie sink in. In my post Superbad euphoria I may have declared this movie better than The Warriors and Caddyshack combined...and that can't happen.

2) I wanted this Rant to come closer to the weekend in hopes that if you haven't seen the movie yet I can convince you otherwise.


If you read my Knocked Up rant, you'll know that I'm firmly aboard the Judd Apatow bandwagon. I've been looking forward to Superbad ever since the trailer and it did not disappoint. The packed theater was raucous to the point where the laughs from gags and one-liners overlapped each other. Superbad is best served with a crowd. Don't be a sucka and wait for the DVD.

Okay big SPOILER ALERT for this one, as usual, this is not a review just some impressions.


The premise is simple, two high school seniors, Seth and Evan, get invited to a party and somehow get in charge with buying the liquor. Enter Fogel their nerdy smack talking friend with a fake I.D. Sure we've all been in this situation, Superbad's plot is not as ambitious as trying to run a brothel while your parents are gone or pseudo cathartic as self-discovery through detention...but this is part of why the movies works, we've all been in a situation like this at one time or another and we know all the shit that can go wrong. The plot is on autopilot from that point on and we get to focus on the kids. It's not always about the originality. Superbad works because of the quality of its execution.

The movie starts out with a discussion of the porn site Seth is going to subscribe to. He's about to settle on Vag-tasic Voyage, where some dudes take a van and film their escapades with chicks. If you were like me you said "Hey, that sounds like Bangbus!" and if you are like me you are also a little embarrassed that you know that. So if you go see it this weekend, don't be like me and say it out LOUD.

"I am so jealous you got to suck on those titties as a baby" "Well, at least you got to suck on your Dad's dick"

Sure the movie is pretty much a dick and discharge joke fest, but one of my favorite laughs came from an innocent Asian kid's imitation of a cat. So there is at least one successful attempt at clean humor. I'm trying to think of any others...hmmm...well at least there's one.

"You know if you scratch our back we'll scratch yours" "Well Jules, the funny thing about my back is that it's located on my cock."

This sequence stands out as an example of one of the things I love most about this movie. The characters are not pigeon-holed into a stereotype. In a lesser comedy the fat loser kid would never say that to a girl he was interested in. Seth and Evan are portrayed as realistic teenagers. They both have their moments where they show they aren't limited to Seth's low self-esteem and Evan's anal retentive neuroticism. They aren't one trick ponies and they come off as real. High School's clique system was never as rigid as the 80's movies liked to claim it was. If it was for you, then I'm sorry you grew up in Retardville. It looks like the f'n Breakfast Club influence may be finally gone from teenage movies. Suck it John Hughes!

"For some reason, I don't know why, I would sit around all day and draw pictures of dicks"

I'm going to preface this with a TC and M anecdote. We were in a Las Vegas suite for a bachelor party weekend. The night we all got in we ended up just hanging around and we decided to get PPV porn on the big screen. So we're about to settle on an orgy movie with one guy and a whole lotta sluts. Then our nameless friend objects to the choice with "Pick another one, that movie only has one cock in it". Needless to say, any decision we had to make that weekend was followed by, "Hey, does that enough cock for ya?"

So yeah, as Superbad's cavalcade of cock doodles started, I wondered if he would be satisfied...really though, there are a lot of dick pictures.

"I am McLovin"

Get ready for the McLovin merch! If you miss out I'm sure Urban Outfitters will have these in stock where their Napoleon Dynamite stuff used to be.

"Prepare to get fucked by the long dick of the law"

The cops in this movie, played by Superbad co-writer Seth Rogen and SNL's Bill Heder, make a hilarious device for moving the plot and at times steal the movie. Keeping the focus off Evan and Seth for a good portion of the movie helped quite a bit. There's nothing worse for movie that getting sick of seeing main characters on the screen. Ex: All three Star Wars prequels.

"You have such a smooth cock." "Thank you. You would too...if you were a man."

Michael Sera plays the over-polite, insecure, dork to perfection. His portrayal of Evan is really just a continuation of his George Michael Bluth from Arrested Development. What sets Superbad apart from most teen movies is the depths it will go to accurately portray the awkwardness of uncomfortable teenage moments. I had the feeling that most of the audience were reliving some of moments as recently as the weekend before.

"So I guess I'll call you. I have your information so..."

The parting sequence that ends this film was so bittersweet. They acknowledge that the "bro's before ho's" era is now ending. Long live the "getting screwed over by chicks era". All they needed to do was play "Just Once" and have Seth drive away crying in the rain.