Superbad

Quite often we hear from people how much they love a certain movie. A lot of the time it's a comedy, usually a teen comedy. They rant about how it's the best comedy ever made. The truth is that that comedy probably came at out at a time when it was relevant in their lives. However, that shouldn't take away from that hypothetical comedy as it takes an incredible film to define a generation. It is pretty much tradition that certain comedies define certain people, think American Pie, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Animal House. To most of us, those are great comedies, but for some it holds an even higher value due to the age and place in their lives when they saw it. While recent masterpieces The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up are excellent, they are not in this category. Superbad most definitely is. Considering the screenplay was actually written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg whilst still attending high school, it's not hard to believe that Superbad flawlessly captures life as a teenager. I would go as far as to say that the portrayal of a high school student body has never been so accurate. The movie takes place over a 24 hour or so period and follows three graduating friends making one last effort to get in with the cool kids. Where as most comedies show the geeky kids as, well, really, really geeky and the cool kids as the awesome partiers who are either douche bags or well, really, really cool, Superbad gets it right. The geeky kids are actually cool in their own right, and as normal as everyone else and the cool kids are occasional drunk morons but more commonly, decent human beings. Approaching teenagers with honesty and sincerity rather than follow the stereotypes is one of the film's many strong points. But more than anything else, the movie is hilarious. The best thing is that every joke comes as natural as gun fire in a James Bond flick, rather than the popular trend of throwing in random punchlines that don't truly fit in with storytelling (thanks Family Guy). Also, as with every Judd Apatow/Seth Rogen film, at the center of the story is overwhelming heart, something severely lacking from the industry. Superbad is tremendous, an absolute classic and nothing should stop you from seeing it. I mean, why go see a re-hashed buddy cop movie (Rush Hour 3) when you can see a film so outstanding that it defines a generation.