Superbad

Produced by Knocked Up writer-director Judd Apatow and co-written by Knocked Up star Seth Rogen, Superbad similarly mixes coarse, sexually frank humor with generally likeable characters and an underlying sweetness that helps disarm criticism. Two dorky, codependent high schoolers (Jonah Hill and Michael Cera) dream of losing their virginity before graduating and heading off to different colleges. The opportunity arises when the lads are invited to a pre-graduation house party being thrown by one of the coolest girls in class. Their mission: to secure enough liquor for the assembled underage revelers, and towards this end they recruit a fellow nerd (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who has just obtained a fake photo I.D. The script by Rogen and longtime friend Evan Goldberg features a surfeit of hilarious situations—most of them based on embarrassment—but ultimately this raucous yarn revolves around the separation anxiety that stems from the two best friends' realization that at some point they will have to part company. Rogen and Bill Hader have plum roles as clueless cops who take the feckless holder of the phony I.D. on a wild ride after he's knocked senseless during a liquor-store robbery. Superbad is rude and crude, but it was also the top “guilty pleasure” of many moviegoers during the summer of 2007 and should find a ready audience on DVD. Recommended. [Note: Available in either unrated or R rated versions, or a “2-Disc Unrated Extended Edition”, DVD extras on the “2-Disc Unrated Extended Edition” include audio commentary by producer Judd Apatow, costars Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, director Greg Mottola, and writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, 13 “Cop Car Confessions” (34 min.), 28 minutes of table reads (including one from 2002), 18 minutes of “On Set Diaries,” seven deleted/extended scenes (13 min.), a 13-minute “making-of” featurette, three audition tapes (13 min.), “The Music” (13 min.), “Everyone Hates Michael Cera” featurette (7 min.), a five-minute gag reel, “Snakes on Jonah” animal featurette (5 min.), four minutes of “Line-O-Rama” alternate lines, a “Press Junket Meltdown” featurette (4 min.), “Dancing Title Sequence” behind-the-scenes segment (3 min.), “TV Safe Lines” on redoing lines for TV (3 min.), the brief short “The Vag-Tastic Voyage,” a brief segment of “Michael's Voicemails from Jonah,” an exclusive trailer for Rogen's upcoming 2008 comedy Pineapple Express, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a popular comedy.] (E. Hulse)