Superbad (Blu-ray)

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As I looked at the cover of "Superbad" and popped the disc into my Blu-ray player, I found myself wondering why so many raunchy teen/college comedies are so heavy on the raunchiness and light on the comedy. I mean, why aren't there more films like "Animal House" or "American Pie," where the characters are outrageous, vulgar, and obsessed with sex, but also bursting with personality? Why aren't there more scripts that give you sophomoric characters without the sophomoric writing?

Well, imagine my surprise to find that the unrated version of this teen comedy contains as many laughs as it does #*@!*%!-ing language! Not bad, for a movie that's described on the commentary track as "a film with a lot of dick, but not a lot of heart."

I beg to differ. Seth (Jonah Hill, "Knocked Up") and Evan (Michael Cera, "Arrested Development") are made for each other. Like the real Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, who began writing this script when they were 13, these two are inseparable because their sensibilities are so similar. But this is their last spring together, because in the fall Evan and their geeky third-wheel friend Fogel (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) are going to be roommates at Dartmouth, while Seth has to attend a state school. That's the poignant underpinning. But of course, guys being guys, there's just one "I love you, man" moment that seems patterned after a beer commercial. The rest of their time is spent cheerfully cursing, talking outrageously in public ("No one's gotten a hand-job in cargo shorts since 'Nam") and trying to score so they can go to college with some experience.

The thing is, these guys aren't exactly social butterflies. The running gag is that no one ever sees them at parties, with the two of them saying how many other things are on their plates. Yeah, right. Fact is, they haven't been invited to a party, until just recently. And that invitation kind of comes with a catch. Seth promised he could score the alcohol for this underage bunch, because he has the hots for the hostess--a pretty girl he teamed up with in a home ec class, of all things. It was supposed to be a piece of cake, because Fogel just got a fake ID. Trouble is, he got an ID that said he was from Hawaii, and if that wasn't bad enough, this guy who looks 13 had them put 25 on his fake license, with a geeky photo ("You look like a future pedophile in this picture"), and he only used a single name: McLovin.

It goes from bad to superbad as McLovin gets clocked by a convenience-store robber when he's trying to buy the booze, which hooks him up with two of the most hilarious (and incompetent) cops since Barney Fife. Co-writer Seth Rogen and Bill Hader have some real "Saturday Night Live" fun with these characters, and as they take McLovin on calls with them, it just gets funnier and funnier. Through a series of mishaps, Evan and Seth, meanwhile, end up at an adult party, where Seth works on "plan B" to try to get the booze. Then we see Seth and Evan trying to score with their respective "hard-ons," with Jules (Emma Stone) the teetotaler and Becca (Martha MacIsaac) the out-of-control, "I wanna give him a blowjob" ready-to-puke drunk.

That's it, really. But it's not the destination in this film. Like the treasured time that these two lifelong friends are spending together, it's the journey. And there are some really funny moments along the way. Seth has no compunction about speaking his mind. As his friend's mother leans over and he checks out her cleavage, he just can't keep from telling Evan, "I am SO jealous you got to suck on those tits when you were little." Or when he responds to Evan's interest in Becca by saying how "She looks like she could really take a cock," which he assures Evan he means in only the nicest way. "So you think that's a good thing to say about a person?" Evan deadpans, with Cera playing the same wide-eyed but dead-panned character he nailed in "Arrested Development."

On the bonus features, the real Evan and Seth talk about what a surprise Cera was--that they were only looking for a straight man to play opposite the funnier Seth. But Cera delivers humor as well, only a different kind. It's the combination that makes "Superbad" superfunny. Look for plenty of small touches, too, like the Old Muskogee Beer that these two drink, and the film's most uproarious sequences involving a series of penis drawings.

There may not be any sideplots to speak of, and the comedy is sometimes as subtle as the kick from a service revolver, but "Superbad" rises above the schlock that passes for raunchy comedy because it doesn't just have "dick." It also has a little heart, and a few brains behind it as well.

Video:
I never saw this one in theaters, so I can't say for sure, but the MPEG-4 transfer looks a little "soft" to my eyes. Though you can see plenty of detail, especially in close-ups or isolated objects, the edges are a little soft. The 1080p picture is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen. Colors are vivid and well-saturated, but the black levels seem a little low, which might contribute to the overall soft look of the film. But it's slightly soft, not offensively soft.