Movie Review: Superbad
http://www.thejournalofstudentministries.com/articles/145/1/Movie-Review-Superbad/Page1.html
Dave Urbanski
Dave Urbanski is author of The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash (Relevant Books), senior developmental editor for Youth Specialties, and writes about music, film, and culture for several publications. By Dave Urbanski
Published on 05/29/2008
Titling your movie Superbad would appear to be the work of an extremely confident (or extremely arrogant) filmmaker--as any reviewer looking for an open door to describe how wretched your movie is would need to search no further than your title. Fortunately for the folks behind Superbad (notably writer-producer-actor Seth Rogen of Knocked Up fame and his collaborator, Judd Apatow, who also produced The 40-Year-Old Virgin), the badness is all on the surface. Not that it'd help your job security if your kids' parents found out you took the youth group to see this extremely raunchy teen comedy in the theater; but if you're the curious type and rent the DVD this fall, you might find a few scenes worth using as discussion starters.
R, 114 min.
Titling your movie Superbad would appear to be the work of an extremely confident (or extremely arrogant) filmmaker--as any reviewer looking for an open door to describe how wretched your movie is would need to search no further than your title. Fortunately for the folks behind Superbad (notably writer-producer-actor Seth Rogen of Knocked Up fame and his collaborator, Judd Apatow, who also produced The 40-Year-Old Virgin), the badness is all on the surface. Not that it'd help your job security if your kids' parents found out you took the youth group to see this extremely raunchy teen comedy in the theater; but if you're the curious type and rent the DVD this fall, you might find a few scenes worth using as discussion starters.
That is, if you and your kids (and your kids' parents and your church) don't mind profanity. Because there's a ton of it in Superbad--a blitzkrieg of four-letter words and other innuendos, if you will. In fact, swearing is so embedded in the patter of the script that you barely notice it after the first 10 minutes. The plot involves two unpopular high school seniors--best friends, Seth and Evan--who're about to graduate and want a night to remember. In the spirit of American Graffiti, Dazed and Confused, and the more similarly toned Harold & Kumer Go to White Castle, Seth and Evan spend an afternoon and evening looking to score liquor for a party they were surprised to be invited to so they can score with the unattainable girls they've lusted after since grade school. Tagging along on their hapless quest is their even geekier sort-of friend, Fogell (played by scene-stealing newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and the trio encounter more hassles and impossible situations than three sex-starved teenage boys should have to contend with.
In the end, Seth and Evan discover some important truths about their friendship, and in the face of all their bombastic, testosterone-filled visions of sexual conquests before the night got underway, Superbad refreshingly reveals the pair's foibles and their extremely non-slick, quite insecure cores. If you're able to extract a clean-enough scene or two from the landfill of excessive cursing, sex banter, and drug and alcohol references, you might have a unique discussion starter on your hands.
That is, if you and your kids (and your kids' parents and your church) don't mind profanity. Because there's a ton of it in Superbad--a blitzkrieg of four-letter words and other innuendos, if you will. In fact, swearing is so embedded in the patter of the script that you barely notice it after the first 10 minutes. The plot involves two unpopular high school seniors--best friends, Seth and Evan--who're about to graduate and want a night to remember. In the spirit of American Graffiti, Dazed and Confused, and the more similarly toned Harold & Kumer Go to White Castle, Seth and Evan spend an afternoon and evening looking to score liquor for a party they were surprised to be invited to so they can score with the unattainable girls they've lusted after since grade school. Tagging along on their hapless quest is their even geekier sort-of friend, Fogell (played by scene-stealing newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and the trio encounter more hassles and impossible situations than three sex-starved teenage boys should have to contend with.
In the end, Seth and Evan discover some important truths about their friendship, and in the face of all their bombastic, testosterone-filled visions of sexual conquests before the night got underway, Superbad refreshingly reveals the pair's foibles and their extremely non-slick, quite insecure cores. If you're able to extract a clean-enough scene or two from the landfill of excessive cursing, sex banter, and drug and alcohol references, you might have a unique discussion starter on your hands.