Superbad

Is it even possible, after seeing this movie, to resist the headline "Super Bad is Super Good"? I don't know, I'm struggling with it.

The first 1/2 hour of this movie is so funny, and had me laughing so hard, that at one point I recall thinking that there was no way to sustain that pace. It couldn't possibly be that funny for that long, it was going to devolve into something that sucked, I was sure. Especially with all the locker room jokes that were somehow, miraculously made funny again. I giggled like a 7th grader, laughed uproariously and finally, left the movie with a stitch in my side.

Superbad was written by the team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. You'd know Rogen if you saw his picture, he was the sissy friend in You me and Dupree with the naggy wife, he was in Knocked Up, and now he's written that funniest thing I've seen in years. This is really the first thing noteworthy that Goldberg has written, but he's sure to get plenty of chances now as this movie did very well so far, grossing more than 30 million in its opening weekend.

The strange thing about the movie is that you know it shouldn't be that funny, it's not an intellectual kind of clever, or even word play at all, it's just beat you over the head crudeness that somehow works.

Superbad works because of Jonah Hill. Make no mistake about it, Jonah Hill is hysterical, has flawless timing, a great dead-pan and when he needs to can be a very sympathetic character. And he just looks funny. How else can I say that? He doesn't need to resort to physical comedy all that much, though he does on occasion, but he has an expressive face and he works it well.

That's not to say that Michael Cera isn't great as Evan or that Christopher Mintz-Plasse doesn't work as Fogell. Both of them are great, but the cold, hard truth is that finding a quiet reflective sort of do-gooder to play the fat kids moral compass wouldn't be that hard, nor would replacing Fogell with some other geek, they're everywhere. But Jonah Hill is something special. Superbad is the lowest form of humor, if you're measuring on an intellectual scale, but it's brilliant in it's execution and delivery.

Never mind the plot, if I try to sum it up, you'll think it's just dumb. It's not that important anyway, it's simple and really just a vehicle for exploring Seth's (Jonah Hill) desperate desire to get laid, drunk and generally end his high school career on a cool note.

Go see Superbad, it's truly worth it. Superbad is super good! There, I said it.