Superbad

Producer Judd Apatow continues his domination of the American comedy landscape with Superbad, penned by pals Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and directed by TV comedy vet Greg Mottola. It's the seemingly self-reflexive tale of Seth and Evan, two outsider high schoolers trying to score big on popularity and female companionship as the final weeks of school draw to a close. Seth (Jonah Hill) hatches a scheme to make a power play at a nearing party by delivering the supercool alcohol for the shindig, roping Evan (Michael Cera) and the fake ID toting Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, a teenage actor making a hilarious debut he might regret 40 years from now when people on the street still call him McLovin - you'll see why) into the scheme. What follows is a plot-wise by the book "one wild night" comedy farce that's elevated tremendously by the ultratalented cast (also including Rogen and Bill Hader as less than stellar officers of the law) and the solidly sophisticated, albeit aggressively obscene, screenplay. Kudos also are due to Mottola who takes the helm with an appropriate vision for making the film believable and relatable even with its outrageous, illogical comedy gags. His experiences on complex comedy shows such as "Arrested Development" and "Undeclared" seem to have taught him a thing or two about balancing tone and straddling the line between wit and idiocy.

It takes a bit for the film to warm up, emerging from blunt vulgarity to suggest something more clever and unforeseeably sincere. But once it's finally solidified its strange but ultimately very satisfying future frat boy banter dialogue rhythms, it launches into a breakneck pace. It becomes the sort of comfortable film comedy experience where you gladly laugh out loud at jokes you usually wouldn't, simply for the reason that they're swept up in the light speed momentum of other, truly phenomenal ones. Everything Cera, Hill, and the rest of cast say or do just seems funny. When you take a breath, it becomes clear that it's not all golden. There are more than a few duds and some unnecessary tangents, but the hits outweigh the misses, and who's counting anyway? The film flies free and loose, and nitpicking such a fun ride seems ultimately useless and party pooping. All quibbles aside, it's a very funny film, and an unexpected late Summer surprise.

Grade: A-