Superbad (film)

Superbad
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Greg Mottola
Produced by	Judd Apatow Evan Goldberg Seth Rogen Shauna Robertson
Written by	Evan Goldberg Seth Rogen
Starring	Jonah Hill Michael Cera Seth Rogen Bill Hader
Music by	Lyle Workman
Editing by	William Kerr
Studio	The Apatow Company
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	August 17, 2007 (2007-08-17)
Running time	113 minutes 118 minutes (unrated extended version)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$169,871,719

Superbad is a 2007 American comedy film directed by Greg Mottola and starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera. The film was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who began working on the script when they were both thirteen years old; they completed a draft by the time they were fifteen. The film's main characters have the same given names as Rogen and Goldberg. The film was one of a string of hits by Judd Apatow.

Plot

Two weeks before their high school graduation, long-time best friends Evan (Michael Cera) and Seth (Jonah Hill) are about to leave for different colleges. Their mutual friend, Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), has plans to acquire a fake ID, so Seth agrees to buy alcohol for a party that his crush, Jules (Emma Stone), is hosting. Evan also offers to buy Goldslick vodka for his long-time crush Becca (Martha MacIsaac). There is some tension between Seth and Evan because Evan and Fogell will both be going to Dartmouth while Seth will be going to a state college.

While purchasing the alcohol Fogell is assaulted by a hooded robber, and the police soon arrive. The two officers, Michaels (Seth Rogen) and Slater (Bill Hader), appear to be fooled by Fogell's fake ID (which has the single name "McLovin" as his identity) and offer Fogell a lift to the party. On the way, however, they make numerous stops and display many instances of inappropriate use of police powers, including stealing beers, drinking on the job, unnecessary use of police lights, and improper use of their firearms.

While the police officers are talking to Fogell at the liquor store, Evan and Seth make the assumption that Fogell has been arrested. Seth is suddenly hit by a car but seems uninjured. To avoid being reported, the driver, Francis (Joe Lo Truglio), agrees to take them to a party, where they reason they can steal the alcohol they need. However, Francis is not welcome at the party and is subsequently assaulted by the host, Mark (Kevin Corrigan), and Seth and Evan are forced to leave, but not before smuggling out beer in laundry detergent bottles.

Once at a safe distance, the two stop to catch their breath and Seth accuses Evan of bailing on him. Evan defends himself saying that the whole thing was Seth's idea. Seth retorts saying that not only did Evan bail on him at the party but also at earlier that morning when a bully spat on Seth, and will again be bailing on him when he goes to Dartmouth that Fall. Evan then angrily confesses that he feels Seth has been holding him back for the last three years and that while he could have been out making friends and chasing girls, he sat around talking "bullshit." The two then get into a shoving match. During the fight, Seth is again hit by a car, this time the police cruiser occupied by Slater, Michaels, and Fogell. Officer Slater prepares to arrest the teens, but Evan runs off and the two officers chase him while the reunited Seth and Fogell make off with the rest of the alcohol. The trio eventually make it to the party.

At the party, a drunken Becca offers to perform fellatio on Evan in a secluded upstairs room, but Evan declines with the excuse that she is too drunk, and a heavily intoxicated Becca ends up vomiting on the bed comforter. A drunken Seth tries to kiss Jules, who explains that she does not drink and does not want to do anything while he is intoxicated. Seth attempts to express his feelings for Jules but passes out from the alcohol and accidentally head-butts her, giving her a black eye. Fogell successfully seduces his crush, Nicola (Aviva Farber), and gets her into bed, only to have officers Slater and Michaels break up the party after only a few seconds of sex. Officers Slater and Michaels reveal to Fogell that they were aware of his fake ID all along, and decided to ignore it since they saw a bit of themselves as teenagers in Fogell. Fogell in turn asks them a favor in return for their intrusion upon his love making: the officers pretend to haul him off to jail in front of the entire party to boost his popularity. As they are doing this, the same bully who spat on Seth earlier spits on Slater, who who hits him with his baton. In return, Fogell signs an affidavit to a concocted story to explain the condition of the wrecked police car, which they proceed to have fun destroying. Meanwhile, Evan, having passed out from intoxication, is carried off by Seth to avoid arrest from the police officers who have spent the remainder of the night searching for them. At Evan's house Seth reveals his brotherly love for Evan, who then reveals the feelings are mutual.

The following morning, Evan and Seth run into Becca and Jules at the mall. After an awkward conversation about the mistakes of the previous night, Seth takes Jules to "get cover up for her eye", while Evan and Becca go off to "look for some comforters".

Cast

• Jonah Hill as Seth
• Michael Cera as Evan
• Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fogell
• Bill Hader as Officer Slater
• Seth Rogen as Officer Michaels
• Martha MacIsaac as Becca
• Emma Stone as Jules
• Aviva Farber as Nicola
• Joe Lo Truglio as Francis The Driver
• Kevin Corrigan as Mark

Filming

The movie was filmed in the Los Angeles area.
The school that the kids attend is actually the exterior of El Segundo, CA High School. The Mall scenes were shot at the old Fox Hills Mall (which is now the Westfield Mall) in Culver City, CA. Other notable filming locations include the convenience store at the beginning of the movie, also in Culver City, the Liquor Store where "McLovin" get's ID-ed in Glendale, CA. and the bar where the cops take McLovin for a drink (in Westchester - right by Los Angeles Airport)

Reception

Box office

According to Box Office Mojo, the film opened at number one at the United States box office, grossing $33,052,411 in its opening weekend in 2,948 theaters with an average of $11,212 per theater. The film stayed at #1 the second week, grossing $18,044,369. The film has grossed an estimated $121,463,226 in the United States and Canada, and $48,408,493 in other countries, for a total of $169,871,719 worldwide. Compared to the relatively small budget of $20 million, the film earned a huge financial profit, making it the highest domestic grossing high school comedy of all time.

Critical response

Superbad received critical praise and was listed as one of the best movies of 2007 by some critics. As of January 24, 2010, the film-critics aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes listed 88% positive reviews, based on 195 reviews (201 "fresh", 25 "rotten"). RT's consensus was that it is "an authentic take on the awkwardness of the high school experience." It also gained an 86% "Top critics" rating and an 87% audience approval rating. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 76% based on 36 reviews.

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle called it 2007's most successful comedy. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times had the headline of his review read "McLovin It," and gave the film 3¹⁄₂ stars (out of 4) and said "The movie reminded me a little of National Lampoon's Animal House, except that it's more mature, as all movies are." Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times said "Physically, Hill and Cera recall the classic comic duos — Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Aykroyd and Belushi. But they are contemporary kids, sophisticated and sensitive to nuance"; she added, "I hope it's not damning the movie with the wrong kind of praise to say that for a film so deliriously smutty, Superbad is supercute". Sean Burns of Philadelphia Weekly said "2007: the year Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen saved movie comedy", a reference to Knocked Up which was released in June. Devin Gordon of Newsweek said "As a Revenge of the Nerds redux, Superbad isn't perfect. But it's super close."

In a more critical vein, Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter, compared the film to other films with a single-day structure, such as American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused, but said that Superbad "doesn't have the smarts or the depths of those ensemble comedies". The Hollywood Reporter review was referenced in the film's DVD audio commentary, particularly the review's suggestion that the two main characters have a homoerotic experience similar to the film Y Tu Mama Tambien. Adam Graham of The Detroit News said, "the cops belong in a bad Police Academy sequel, not this movie", and also that the film "falls short of teen-classic status." Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel called the film "super-derivative", "super-raunchy", and "Freaks and Geeks: Uncensored". Moore went on to say the film shamelessly plagiarizes from films such as Can't Hardly Wait and American Graffiti. He also said, "Like Knocked Up, this is a comedy they don't know how to end. The energy flags as it overstays its welcome." Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe said the film "has a degree more sophistication than Revenge of the Nerds and American Pie, and less than the underrated House Party". Morris also said, "the few smart observations could have come from an episode of one of Apatow's TV shows" and "I wanted to find this as funny as audiences did".

Books

Two tie-in books to the film were published by Newmarket Press:

Superbad: The Illustrated Moviebook was published on December 4, 2007 to coincide with the release of the film on DVD. This official companion book includes: an introduction by producer Judd Apatow; the complete script by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg; commentaries by Apatow, Rogen and Goldberg, and journalists from Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and Entertainment Weekly; 56 film stills; "Mr. Vagtastic Guide to Buying Porn;" and 24 "phallographic" drawings by David Goldberg that viewers will recognize from the film's end credits.

Superbad: The Drawings was published on February 14, 2008. This gift hardcover art book contains 82 "phallographic" drawings created by David Goldberg (Evan Goldberg's brother) for the film.

Soundtrack

Main article: Superbad (soundtrack)

Awards

Won

• Canadian Comedy Awards 2008 - Seth Rogen - Best Writing. Rogen could not attend the awards ceremony but recorded a special thank you message.
• Canadian Comedy Awards 2008 - Michael Cera - Best Male Performance
• Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2007 - Michael Cera - Most Promising Performer
• Austin Film Critics Association Awards 2007 - Michael Cera - Breakthrough Artist Award
• Young Hollywood Awards 2008 - Emma Stone - Exciting New Face

Nominated

• 2008 MTV Movie Awards - Best Movie
• 2008 MTV Movie Awards - Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse - Breakthrough
• 2008 Peabody Award - Best New Comedy Performance
• 2008 MTV Movie Awards - Jonah Hill - Best Comedic Performance
• Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2007 - Best Comedy Movie
• Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2007 - Michael Cera - Best Young Actor
• Empire Awards 2007 - Best Comedy
• Teen Choice Awards 2007 - Choice Summer Movie - Comedy/Musical

External links

• Official website
• Superbad at the Internet Movie Database
• Superbad at the TCM Movie Database
• Superbad at AllRovi
• Superbad at Box Office Mojo
• Superbad at Rotten Tomatoes
• Superbad at Metacritic