It may have taken until the end of the summer, but the season’s last releases are finally giving audiences a rewarding experience at the theater. One of the summer’s late films is the comedy “Superbad,” which plays up vulgarity and awkwardness in a display of high school hijinks.
Seth and Evan are best friends who spend the majority of their time talking about wasted opportunities. However, with their high school careers ending, they can sense a narrow window of opportunity. When the two girls they respectively have their eyes on tell them about a party, the friends understand this is their chance. The news of the party not only coincides with the stipulation that Seth and Evan, though underage, must supply the booze at the party, but also with the development that their pseudo-friend Fogell/McLovin has a dubious fake ID.
The bulk of the film follows the friends’ journey to the party. Of course, unexpected obstacles arise along the way. Fogell gets involved with two dim-witted cops, while Seth and Evan crash a party filled with strange and shady characters.
“Superbad” is from the creators of “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up,” and is the funniest of the three. The characters sound and react like real high school students, and one minute of the film has more laughs than the entirety of “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.” It is entertaining throughout (one bit about Seth’s childhood affliction is legendary), even if it would have benefited from comedy not derived exclusively from vulgarity. Another problem is that Seth and Evan don’t actually act like best friends until the end of the film, after they have complained about each other more than any real friends would.
Still, “Superbad” fills the summer void with some of the biggest laughs in years.
Gabe Habash may be contacted at s.habash1@umiami.edu.