Finally, a teen comedy done RIGHT!

"Superbad" (2007)
Directed by: Greg Mottola (TV's "Undeclared", "Arrested Development")
Starring: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader
Running Time: 114 minutes
Rut's Rating: A HUGE 5/5

In the last ten years or so, comedy has been sliced into about three categories. Each one has its ups and downs, depending on the material written and the actors cast. They are, in no particular order:

1. The low-budget, quirky, no-real-plot-but-it-will-attain-cult-status comedy, (Dazed and Confused, The Big Lebowski, Napoleon Dynamite)
2. The repetitive let's-pick-a-random-sport-and-throw-random-homoerotic-jokes-in comedy, (Dodgeball, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory)
3. The R-rated youth coming-of-age comedy, (American Pie 1,2, & 3, Road Trip, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle)

Those are all well and good, in fact there are a few movies mentioned that I really love. But sometimes, a movie comes along and sets the bar higher. Or in the case of "Superbad", takes the bar and hurtles it into space.

Written and produced by the same guys who gave us "The 40-Year Old Virgin" and this past summer's "Knocked Up", "Superbad" takes a look at the last month of high school for best friends Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera). Virtually inseparable, these two spend their days day-dreaming about girls and college, and spend their nights hanging with their friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). They're outcasts who choose to do their own thing and never attend parties. This might lead you to believe that they're losers but you'd be wrong. Seth and Evan define what it's like to be a teenager in this day and age, with their shared anti-social behavior and co-dependency on one another. To me, there were always several different groups of kids in high school. The party animals, the artists, the goody-goody A-plussers and the let-it-ride dreamers observing everything. Seth and Evan are the dreamers, the guys you see in the hallway just hanging by themselves. Sure, they're not at all the parties, they don't have girlfriends, and they may not be kings of the school, but they're not looked down on by everyone.

For me, "Superbad" gets high school right in that sense. Watching the movie, I definitely saw more than a few resemblances to my own days as a student at OHS. I saw a few faces that resembled my fellow classmates, but I won't mention names. The movie take a simple approach rather than throwing a bunch of ill-conceived jokes or gags in. What you see is hilarious, and yet believable at the same time. Feeling uncomfortable talking to girls? Check. Being a high school kid who's attending a 20-something bash and feeling way over your head? Yup. Mad that your friend is ditching you for college in the fall? Mmhmm. Its the little things in this movie that make it believable and hysterical at the same time. For Seth and Evan, their goal is simple - score liquor for a house party that just might ensure the affection of the dream girls in their lives. Sounds easy, right?

Jonah Hill and Michael Cera give funny, honest performances as Seth and Evan. Newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse is hysterical as Fogell, or "McLovin" as you'll see from watching. Seth Rogen and Bill Hader round out the male cast as police officers Michaels and Slater, respectively. After Fogell is injured in a liquor store robbery, the cops take a liking to him and he ends up hanging out with them for about 75% of the film. Rogen and Hader are hilarious and I love some of the one-liners they give. Rogen and his friend Evan Goldberg wrote the screenplay when they were 13, and the movie's lead characters are named after them.

You might love "Superbad", you might hate it. You might even connect with it as I did. In my opinion, this is the funniest and best comedy I've seen all year, even in the last few years. This makes anything that Ben Stiller or Will Ferrell did seem amateur and half-assed. Its a movie about teens, yet its smarter than most things involving adults.

See "Superbad". Release your inner "McLovin".