[Cera] has some of the best comic timing of anyone working in film today, a precocious sense of the awkward pauses and misread cues in which social panic resides.
Superbad (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:39
Fresh:34
Rotten:5
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: Deftly balancing vulgarity and sincerity while placing its protagonists in excessive situations, Superbad is an authentic take on friendship and the overarching awkwardness of the high school experience.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for pervasive crude and sexual content, strong language, drinking, some drug use and a fantasy/comic violent image - all involving teens.
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Aug 17, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $121,463,226
Synopsis: Produced by Judd Apatow and co-written by Seth Rogen--both of 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP fame--SUPERBAD is the story of two horny teenage geeks looking to lose their virginity before... Produced by Judd Apatow and co-written by Seth Rogen--both of 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP fame--SUPERBAD is the story of two horny teenage geeks looking to lose their virginity before college. Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are hoping to end high school on a high note, and when one of their crushes (Emma Hill) invites them to a graduation party, the boys are ecstatic. That is, until they become responsible for supplying the party with alcohol. They hurriedly concoct a scheme to use their friend Fogell's (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) horrendously fake ID, but trouble soon arises when Fogell becomes the victim of a liquor store robbery. The cops (Rogen and Bill Hader) show up, and the evening quickly disintegrates into a hilarious mess of misunderstandings, crackhead sing-alongs, and beer mixed with laundry detergent. Hill is a riot as the wild-haired and foul-mouthed Seth, and Mintz-Plasse is great fun as the uber-geek Fogell. But Michael Cera (formerly of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) steals the show as the sensitive and levelheaded Evan. His oddball line delivery and excellent comic timing make for some of the most bizarre but best moments of the film. The sexual humor can be pretty graphic at times, which is no doubt what earned the movie its R rating. Yet, despite gross-out jokes involving menstrual blood and penis drawings, SUPERBAD somehow manages to fly far above frat-boy, AMERICAN PIE-style humor. This is partly due to the comedic skill of the actors, but also because the characters--silly and absurd though they can be--are so well-written. Watching these bungling outcasts is a vivid reminder of the horrific lows and supreme highs of high school life, and their antics rather poignantly capture how age 18 can indeed be super bad, but also super good. [More]
Starring: Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Kevin Corrigan
Starring: Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Kevin Corrigan, Joe LoTruglio, Martha MacIsaac, Emma Stone, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Director: Greg Mottola
Director: Greg Mottola
Screenwriter: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg
Producer: Judd Apatow, Shauna Robertson
Composer: Lyle Workman
Studio: Columbia Pictures
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Release:
Dec 4, 2007
Blu-ray Disc Features:
- 2-Disc Set
- NTSC
- Extended
- Unrated
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
- Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai
- Subtitles - English, French, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary
- Additional Unrated Footage
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
- Bloopers: Gag Reel
- Behind the Scenes: The Making of SUPERBAD
Featurette:
- 1. SUPERBAD SuperMeter (Blu-ray Exclusive)
- 2. COP CAR CONFESSIONS - Ride along with Clark County's Finest
- 3. ORIGINAL TABLE READ 2002 - with Seth Rogan
- 4. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS - Exclusive First Look
- 5. CAST AUDITION FOOTAGE
- 6. PRESS JUNKET MELTDOWN
- 7. THE MUSIC OF SUPERBAD
- 8. EVERYONE HATES MICHAEL CERA
- 9. ON-SET DIARIES
- 10. LINE-O-RAMA
Interactive Features:
- Menus - Featuring Seth's Doodles
Reviews for Superbad
This is the funniest picture since Borat, and more emotionally nuanced than you would expect.
A critical mass of these kinds of flicks argues for a new subgenre: "nerdsploitation."
Contains laughs galore, so many that the last one may get in the way of next one coming. But it's also got moments where you may want to cover your eyes to shield yourself from the sheer, wince-inducing familiarity of the behaviour on display.
For pure laughs, for the experience of just sitting in a chair and breaking up every minute or so, Superbad is 2007's most successful comedy.
Even this middle-age hausfrau can appreciate the zonkered comic force behind Superbad, whose rambling plot and profane bull sessions reminded me of Danny Leiner's Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.
The writers shoot often and copiously, and they're obviously in love with their ability. Now, if they could just get some sort of focused, confident rhythm going, they might make things more satisfying for the audience as well.
I wanted to find this as funny as audiences did. But it mostly made me understand the case for staying a virgin until you're 40.
A crazed odyssey of booze, lust, thwarted sex and undying friendship.
Superbad has raunchy charm, a fair amount of heart and a couple of nice performances.
The variety of complications thrown at the three pubescent heroes raises this a cut above most raunchy comedies.
What's most memorable, most striking about Superbad is the canny evocation of male friendship in all its richness and complexity.
Humiliation, fear and occasional elation are the dominant emotions for these bumbling but oddly likable young men. Side-splitting laughter, along with some powerful cringing, are likely to be audiences' dominant reactions.
The movie doesn't need any superfluous redeeming qualities: Its pleasures and charms lie in its very crudeness, in the way the characters' thoughts begin in their dicks and spill out of their mouths, completely bypassing their brains.
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.
What is required is a sense of humor. Bring that to the theater with you and you won't be disappointed.
Latest News for Superbad
October 07, 2009:
Emma Stone talks Zombieland - RT Interview
After kicking off her movie career in Superbad as the high-school hottie throwing the cool party, Emma Stone is rapidly carving a niche for herself as a young actress with good... More...
January 09, 2009:
UK Critics Consensus: Indifference For Defiance, Whilst Slumdog Millionaire Shines
A trip to the cinema is a sure-fire way to beat the January blues, but which film should you be shelling out to see? Vying for your pennies this weekend we have Daniel Craig in... More...
September 12, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Pineapple Express is smoking hot; If in Eden Lake, DON’T Hug a Hoodie
This week we have the stoner action-comedy The Pineapple Express, with Seth Rogen, James Franco and new boy on the comedy block Danny McBride, plus My Little Eye writer James... More...
August 08, 2008:
Superbad/Pineapple Express Sequel Mashup Coming? ![]()
Interest has been expressed in sequels to both Superbad and Pineapple Express -- and, as James Franco tells MTV, they might both happen, in the form of one movie with two... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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