Monday, March 25, 2019

Superbad 2007 Movie Review w/ Spoilers



From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a film review for you.

Today I'll be reviewing the movie Superbad released in 2007.

Starring:
Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Directed by:
Greg Mottola

Genre:
Comedy

Rating:
R

Budget:
$20,000,000 (estimated)

IMDb Rating is currently:
7.6


The Synopsis is:
Seth, Evan, and Fogel are 3 awkward young highschool boys set out on a wild adventure to provide drinks for a party where they can finally get the girls they have been after all school year.


Story:
Writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg started this script when they were just 13 years old, because they just wanted to see if they could write a movie.  It’s no coincidence that the lead characters, Seth and Evan, are named after them.

According to the DVD commentary, the writers actually did a few of the antics that happen in the film when they were in high school.

However, this film is not biographical.  It a hypothetical creation loosely based on the writers and their friend Sam Fogel, almost set in fantasy situations where each one gets a girl and endures a wild night of adventure.

The story falls in the tradition of following the antics and fantasies of pubescent boys seen in teen movies like, Meatballs (1979), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Porky's (1982), and American Pie (1999).

This 2007 teen movie is not your average teen movie because at the very core of its unoriginal concept of dweebs redeeming themselves for one amazing night, is the originality to be as unpredictable as possible, and that difference makes it quite brilliant.


Pacing:
At an 1 hour 53 minutes the film is way too long.  It’s good, but too long for me.  Some parts play out like an unedited documentary.


Challenge:
There really are no challenges in the story in the way of characters, but more in the situations that the boys get into.


Empathy:
Let’s start with Fogel.  Fogel is your typical geek, that tries way too hard to make friends… and even among his feeble click of Seth and Evan, he’s still an outsider fighting for acceptance.

He tells his friends that he is getting a fake ID which gives them the great idea to get alcohol for a party.  He is pressured into it because he is so desperate for friendship.  It’s pretty sad, but to his benefit, he finally finds the acceptance he seeks in two compassionate police officers that take a liking to him.

Officer Michaels and Slater are two cops who answer a call to a liquor store where a robbery has occurred.  Among the witnesses is McLovin, Fogel’s alias as he is trying to buy drinks for his friends.

At first you think that the cops are stupid for believing that Fogel is Mclovin.  But then you discover that they are well aware of what he was doing in the liquor store and through McLovin they are able to vindicate their own memories of being awkward teens.  They bring a refreshing twist, instead of portraying adults or authority figures as total jerks, as many teen movies often do.  Proving that some adults are actually cool.

Seth is the least likable of the boys.  He’s kinda cute sometimes, but most of the time he's wildly offensive  and socially inept.  But in the same breath there are glimpses of a sensitive, scared guy peeking through.

He is the classic case of a person being their own enemy.

One of the most off putting things about his character is that he is so mean to his friends.  Everything is about him and he has no consideration or them.
You get the sense, that if he doesn’t straighten up his act, he’ll eventually lose the friends he does have.  And even though he’s a jerk, you don’t want that to happen to him.

A chance pairing with his crush, Jules and news of Fogel's acquisition of a fake ID, is the catalyst for the adventure in the film.  Because of course Seth couldn’t help bragging to Jules that he could bring alcohol to her party that night.  Typical Seth.

Well he knows very little about women and has low esteem, so he thinks that if they are drunk, just maybe they’ll find him attractive.  I really enjoyed the fact that Jules doesn’t drink, and she teaches him that he should be a little more courageous about being in touch with romantic side.

And the last of the three friends is Evan who tries to be a decent person, but he’s so wrapped up in Seth's delusions, that no matter how much he protests, he’s dragged into.  He even tells Seth in the story that he is holding him back, and Seth is kind of holding him in his boyhood stage, when he's absolutely ready to be a man. 

Evan sets his sights on a girl named Becca.  You get the sense he'd really like to have a meaningful relationship with her and he really respects her.  For him, it’s not just about sex, but a deep connection to a special person.

Evan is Seth’s friend, but he represents the opposite of the two, because he is considerate, and often offers a voice of reason, while Set is ready to jump into the next ridiculous thing.

He is probably the most “unique” character, presented as a teen boy ever seen on film and I liked him a lot.


Technical:
Now one of things I like about this film is that the year is pretty ambiguous.  These guys have cell phones but the music, clothes and even the coloring of the film feels very 1970’s.  The title was inspired by the black exploitation film Foxy Brown released in 1974, where in the term "superbad" was used and  bold psychedelic graphics were applied to it’s graphics.

And even the 1970s version of the Columbia Pictures logo was shown at the beginning of the film, instead of the 2000s version.

The film has many modern day references in pop culture prior to the 70’s as well giving us a feeling of timelessness such as a reference to a lunchbox for the The Real Ghostbusters (TV Series) (1986) where Seth hides his stash of controversial drawings as a youngster.


Performances:
The performances were all pretty great.

Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, were just awesome in such a very naturalistic and organic way.

Christopher mintz-plasse knocked it out of the ballpark, for his first film role, being plucked from high school to play the role of McLovin without any prior acting experience.  What a great job!


Best:
The best part of the film for me is when Seth carries Evan out of a party being raided by the cops.  It was a surprise to see how he selfless he could be, if he only showed his emotions authentically.



Wish List:
I wish the film was shorter.  It just goes on for too long.


The ending:
The ending is brilliant.  It is then that you realize that the two friends who’ve been bickering through the whole film actually are dealing with this incredible grief possibly losing each other after graduation.

They would see each other every day and hang out every weekend, but once they enter college, that closeness will be gone. And it hurts.

I thought it was a wonderful pivotal point that the film decided to make in order to define some meaning for  the audience.

One interesting sentiment of this movie is that Evan and Seth’s declaration of love for one another is often referred to as a homoerotic moment in the film.   And the film also plays it up for a laugh.

This is the perfect example of the double standards of gender in our society which promotes miscommunication and dissension among us.

I really like that the filmmakers added that element to the film without shame, because of course men can deeply love each other platonically.


Enjoyment:
I didn’t think I would like it, because I didn’t think I would be able to relate to it, but on contrary, I did relate to it a lot.  I thought it was charming.

If you are planning on watching this film just know that there is a lot of brutal swearing and sexual language within a lot of truly wicked humor.  Really brutally, funny stuff, if you're into that kind of thing.  I was personally fine with it, because I have heard lots guys and girls talk candidly like this behind closed doors, but really never on screen.

If it’s not your cup of tea, I understand.  But I thought it was actually cool to see this applied on screen and then flushed out the story to have some meaning for the characters.

Behind all of the laughs or disgust, which ever one you categorize the jokes, there is a coming of age story here.  The police officers, puts some closure to their boyhood, seeing off the next generation, in Fogel.

Fogel grows into his manhood without the attachment of his school friends establishing himself as his own man.

Evan and Seth share a moment of closure together, revealing their true love and respect for each other as friends.  And to finalize the closure,  each walks in the opposite direction from the other, still as friends.

Gotta love coming of age movies.


My Rating:
8.3


That sums up my review.  I hope you liked it.  This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off.

Take care movie lovers!  I'm off to the next review!




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