Nerd wars: Revenge of the seth

Rogen’s script basks in a teenage wasteland

NICHOLAS MACMAHON STAFF

Now an established comic star, Seth Rogan is back with a vengeance after his recent box-office smash Knocked Up. This time around, he brings back his confident slacker role in cop-form with total creative control, penning Superbad with writer Evan Goldberg.

Rogen’s story centers around the difficult questions that adolescent males seek out answers to: who’s buying the booze? How can I get laid? If I can’t get laid, how can I order online porn without my mom and dad catching me? Our two loveable losers are Seth and Evan played by Jonah Hill (Accepted) and Michael Cera (Arrested Development) respectively, mining the chubby-loud/scrawny-reserved duo formula of yesteryear à la Farley-Spade or Belushi-Aykroyd. The two pull it off with flying colors, Seth providing the slapstick and sex-crazed talk, accented by Evan’s sensitivity. As one scene attests, in cafeteria jabber Evan speaks highly of a girl that he “respects,” while Seth scoffs at him and goes on a sidetrack story of his childhood obsession with drawing penises, eventually relating it back to Evan’s love interest. Superbad succeeds in poking fun at teenage insecurity without resorting to exaggerated stereotypes that other teen movies can’t stay away from (see any ’80s “brat pack” spin-off film). Unfortunately, the backdrop of the film becomes an over-the-top slapstick plot involving a quest to buy alcohol and the obstacles along the way.

Among these obstacles are two cops played by Seth Rogen, as mentioned earlier, and Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live). They become part of a subplot involving Fogell, the nerdy third wheel to Seth and Evan, played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse — donning a Metallica T-shirt, thick glasses and a perverted smile that only comes from a deeply committed relationship with the right hand. After obtaining a cheap fake ID, he takes on his new persona — McLovin, which provides for a hilarious questioning scene by the cops at a liquor store, resulting in a “bad-ass” transformation of Fogell, allowing him to steal the show. The subplot turns into American Pie meets Super Troopers, as McLovin rides around getting drunk with two cops that like to party. The rest of the movie also loses focus, jumping from humourous insight into teenage escapism (what lengths they’ll go to obtain alcohol) to “ouch, my balls.”

After the smoke clears, the film manages to land somewhat safely. Unlike other films in the teen/coming-of-age comedies, this film maintains the heart and some realism amidst the ludicrous predicaments, ultimately stressing the superiority of childhood friendships vs. a quick drunken fling. For added believability, it was a smart decision to hire squeaky-voice teen actors Mintz-Plasse and Cera rather than the graying, stubble-faced 20-somethings that normally dominate this genre; Hill falls into the latter category, yet he has the acting chops to fool audiences everywhere.

In a decade that has been overly saturated with teen-sex comedies, this is an above-average standout, but nothing more.