Superbad, 2007
Superbad, 2007
Directed by Greg Mottola
Written by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
Produced by Judd Apatow
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
This movie begins with 20 minutes of unadulterated misogyny. Literally, the two main high school characters flow seamlessly from a misogynistic conversation about the merits of a porn site called "Vag-tastic" over one called "Perfect Ten" to how much Seth (Hill) loves Evan's (Cera) mom's tits to which girl they're going to get drunk this weekend to bang. I was very close to walking out within ten minutes, but I didn't. I gave the movie a chance to make me laugh.
The middle of Superbad is okay. There were some funny moments, but I really didn't like any of the characters, even Evan, though he is supposed to be the most sympathetic character. McLovin'/Fogell (Mintz-Plasse) was pretty funny, and I generally enjoyed the cops (Hader & Rogen) + McLovin' scenes. Some of the themes about the ethics of drinking and sex were kind of progressive, but when coupled with the misogyny from the first 20 minutes, it wasn't overall very effective.
And then the movie ended in the most predictable way imaginable. Blah.
Why do people like the Seth Rogen Gang? I'm honestly asking here. I don't see what the big deal is about these films (Superbad, Knocked Up, etc.) aside from the natural way the dialogue flows. Is it such a flow that it makes people stop listening to the content? Does anyone hear what's actually being said? How many times do male characters have to insult each other with such charming and original names as "pussy," "vagina," and "bitch" before moviegoers start giving a fuck about the content and ongoing social effects of a movie rather than the structure of its script? Men calling other men woman-bashing names to emasculate and demean them is outright misogyny. This gets real old real quick.
There are a lot of people who love or will love this movie, and I don't mean any offense by that. It is funny, and I can imagine it's pretty appealing to the guys in the crowd who've been in Seth and Evan's situation -- they want the sex from the girl, and they don't know how to get her in the sack without pissing her off or embarrassing themselves or both. I recognize that appeal of the film, but don't we already have about eight billion movies about that very situation? Can't moviemakers come up with something different for a change? Can't we hear about a different perspective? There wasn't even a black person in this movie. Not. One. Ugh. What century are we in? I'm just annoyed with the whole thing, and I felt it was a waste of my evening aside from getting to eat dark chocolate peanut M&Ms with my boyfriend.
Because I recognize the comedic value in this movie and I respect the effort that went into making this movie as natural-sounding as it is, I'm giving it a C-. If I were going with my gut, I'd give it a D-. But I'm trying to be generous.