Date: August 18Location: AMC Sunset Place
This is a tough one for me to review and rank. I came out mildly disappointed based on the absolute raves I'd been reading, but at the same time I really loved many parts of the film and I laughed my ass off throughout. Michael Cera is absolute gold, and I'm planning to dive into the Arrested Development DVDs ASAP just to enjoy more of his brilliant comic timing. Jonah Hill plays the more obnoxious character, but he has moments of weakness that resonate. The subplot with McLovin and the crazed cops distracts from what is so hilarious and real between the main characters, but it works most of the time as pure comedy. Overall, I think the film suffers in comparison to Knocked Up, which was consistently funnier and didn't have some of the over-the-top elements that feel forced here. And it is not in the same realm as Dazed and Confused, a true classic that is only now gaining the reputation it deserves. I've seen Superbad compared to Dazed, as well as Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the best of John Hughes. I think that last comparison is the most apt -- Superbad reminds me of a blend of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Sixteen Candles. And that's nothing to sneeze at. There's an underlying sweet sadness in this film (not to mention a fair bit of homoeroticism) in how it deals with the special friendships between young men, especially young men who are high school outsiders. That's where it succeeds the most, and it's that theme as well as some great belly-laughs, that push it up my list despite the dampening effect of too-high expectations.
4 comments:
It seems this is another one we are going to disagree on, at least on the rankings, though arguably not in the actual review of the film's strengths and weaknesses. I totally agree that the bookends of this film (basically 1st and last 1/3) worked really well. The characters were great, dialogue great, and just funny as hell. But, man, that middle third...I just had no use for it. The whole adult party, the cops taking McLovin to the bar and on assignments--just over the top crap that didn't work at all. I would have so preferred to have seen the middle third cut substantially--bring the cops (who were funny, though the scenes weren't) to the kid party sooner. The movie clocked in shy of 2 hours, but could have worked at 90 minutes without all the crap in the middle. And, while I assume you agree with much of this based on your comments, I am, quite frankly, shocked to see you put this flick 5th on your list, ahead of Namesake (which you claim to have loved), Hairspray (which was pure joy), among others.I can only assume that you are just so enamored with this writing team that you are REALLY forgiving the poorer parts of this film--giving them a major pass, so that you can put this just 2 behind the far superior Knocked Up.
While I felt the parts with the cops were definitely weaker than the main thread of the film, I didn't find them to be "crap" at all. I found them pretty hilarious. And I loved the stuff at the adult party -- from the bloody dirty dancing to Michael Cera's priceless a capella work. That stuff was gold.
So while we agree on the strengths of the film, I think we're not as close on our assessment of the "weaknesses." I don't see them as very weak at all... they just weren't what I found special about the film.
Funny that this is turning into the year where I rate all the comedies higher than you, from Knocked Up to Ratatouille to this.
One more thing... I agree that my rankings of The Namesake and Hairspray might need a little tweaking. I have to look at the whole list as we head into the Fall season and see if I like where things stand.
While I found the cop section of the film over the top and not nearly as effective as the rest of it, Michael Cera made up for it every moment he was on screen. Meanwhile, Jonah Hill's rant to the home ec teacher and his "boop" of love were two of my favorite moments of the film. I'm guessing that I'll be quoting lines from the film for a long time. At least that's what they taught me in health class :-)
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