Superbad (2007)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Greg Mottola

Writers (WGA):

Seth Rogen (written by) &
Evan Goldberg (written by)

Release Date:

17 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Come and Get Some

Plot:

Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.

Plot Keywords:

Party | High School | Sex | School | Seniors

Awards:

3 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Jonah Hill	...	Seth
Michael Cera	...	Evan
Christopher Mintz-Plasse	...	Fogell
Bill Hader	...	Officer Slater
Seth Rogen	...	Officer Michaels
Martha MacIsaac	...	Becca
Emma Stone	...	Jules
Aviva	...	Nicola
Joe Lo Truglio	...	Francis the Driver
Kevin Corrigan	...	Mark
Clement Blake	...	Homeless Guy (as Clement E. Blake)
Erica Vittina Phillips	...	Liquor Store Cashier
Joe Nunez	...	Liquor Store Clerk (as Joseph A. Nunez)
Dave Franco	...	Greg the Soccer Player
Marcella Lentz-Pope	...	Gaby

Also Known As:

Separation Anxiety (USA) (fake working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive crude and sexual content, strong language, drinking, some drug use and a fantasy/comic violent image - all involving teens.

Runtime:

113 min | 119 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:15 | Singapore:M18 (cut) | Sweden:11 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Ireland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-13 | Germany:16 | Italy:VM14 | Brazil:16 | Netherlands:12 | Philippines:R-18 | Norway:11 | Argentina:13 | South Korea:18 | USA:R (certificate no. 43293) | Canada:14A (Nova Scotia) (re-rating on appeal) | Canada:18A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Iceland:12 (original rating) | Iceland:14 (video rating) | Spain:18 | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

California State University Northridge - 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

During filming of "Undeclared" (2001), Greg Mottola had a table read for the script with Seth Rogen reading for Seth and Jason Segel reading for Evan.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Evan and Seth are first looking at Fogell's fake ID, you can clearly see that there is no black magnetic strip on the back. When the police are looking at it in the liquor store the magnetic strip is visible.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Evan: Yo.
Seth: Hey, man, I was doing some research for next year and I think I figured out which website I wanna subscribe to. The Vag-Tastic Voyage.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Charlie Bartlett (2007)

Soundtrack:

Here I Come

Definitely the best Apatow-group film yet

I enjoyed "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," but didn't feel it was entirely worthy of all the enormous acclaim it garnered. And for all the praise "Knocked Up" received, I thought it was fairly average. So I wasn't expecting much from "Superbad." However, I'd have to say it's the smartest and funniest Apatow film yet. I know he didn't direct it, but his influence is distinct. And in the past I've felt indifferent towards Apatow's brand of humour, but combined with Rogen's sensitivity towards the teen condition here, it works really well.

People have compared it to John Hughes' better teen comedies, but I don't think the approach is entirely similar. "Superbad" is cruder, ruder, a bit more focused on the sex & alcohol jokes. But it works really well because it captures that dynamic - better than "American Pie" because it invests more care into its characters. One of the strengths of "Pie" over other films in its genre (such as, say, "Slackers") has always been its characters, and "Superbad" similarly relies on its characters for support. Plus, it's just really funny.

The performances all around are pretty funny, even if the Fogell/McLovin pop culture references are ruining a good joke (kind of like "Yeah, baby!!" ruined Austin Powers when 20-year-old frat boys around the country thought it would be funny to shout the phrase every five seconds).

Jonah Hill and Michael Cera have great chemistry and another one of the strengths of this film is that its teenage characters actually do look their age (even though Hill is in his early 20s, he still passes as a senior). But it was Bill Hader and Seth Rogen who stole the show for me as the clueless cops.

Overall this is just a funny, well-made film with heart. It doesn't mock its characters or their predicaments but casts a knowing eye on the high school experience. It captures all this very well and was certainly, in my opinion, far superior to "Knocked Up."