Superbad (2007)

Directed by Greg Mottola. Starring Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen, Martha MacIsaac, Emma Stone, Joe Lo Truglio, Kevin Corrigan, Aviva Farber. [R]

Unapologetically raunchy teen comedy—probably the single funniest entry in the sub-genre—about best friends Seth (Hill) and Evan (Cera) and their misadventures trying to score alcohol for a Friday night party. Joining them for some of their hijinks is third wheel/punching bag Fogell (Mintz-Plasse), but you can just call him “McLovin”, the name on the fake ID he plans to use to buy booze, and when that plan goes awry, he ends up spending most of the evening in the company of the most irresponsible cops imaginable (Hader, Rogen). From an endlessly quotable screenplay by Rogen and real-life longtime friend Evan Goldberg (the lead characters are based on them as teenagers), this has become one of the defining movies of the 2000s, an explosively funny “hang-out” flick that has already inspired a load of imitators; that influence/acclaim is owed to how simply and directly the film gets a lot of things right about youthful friendship, anxieties over growing up and losing touch, and identifiable (if puerile) fixations like wanting to get blitzed and trying to hook up with girls. Like much of co-producer Judd Apatow’s output, the final cut probably would have benefited from a little tightening—for a “quest movie” with a very specific goal, there’s not much in the way of forward momentum—but since hardly a minute passes without at least one big laugh and several smaller ones, it’s hard to pick scenes to cut. A number of familiar faces can be spotted in minor roles, including Dave Franco in his film debut; Emma Stone and Mintz-Plasse are also appearing onscreen for the first time.

89/100