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Superbad

Drop what you're doing and run to see—seriously—the decade's funniest movie

By Matt Pais

August 17, 2007

Critic's Rating:

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Evan (Michael Cera of "Arrested Development") and Seth (Jonah Hill of "Knocked Up") promise their crushes that they'll bring booze to a high school graduation party, but problems arise when a convenience store robbery prevents Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), dubbed "McLovin" on his fake ID, from scoring the liquor.

Big question: Can co-writer Seth Rogen ("Knocked Up") and producer Judd Apatow (director of "Knocked Up," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin") craft another hilarious-yet-sincere journey of awkwardness out of seemingly traditional teen fare?

Catch it: Nothing short of an instant classic, "Superbad" will send you to new heights of uncontrollable, so-intense-it-makes-you-dizzy laughter. It's also a quintessential tale of friendship about two nice guys who depend completely on each other—forced to admit to themselves that not every adolescent rite of passage can be experienced as a pair.

Skip it: If you think bars are the best places to meet the opposite sex. As Officer Michaels (Rogen) explains, to meet the good girls you have to hang out at spots like spin class, farmers markets and pumpkin patches.

Bottom line: Few movies have ever captured the feeling of being young and semi-geeky with such beautiful, raunchy authenticity, showing that no one is truly cool and everyone is an outsider. And to do that in a near-flawless two hours that are funnier than "Borat" is a practically unthinkable feat, on par with a wallflower busting through his insecurities and finally getting to second base.

Bonus: For fans of, um, adult-oriented websites who are worried their parents or roommates will notice the non-family-friendly site name on the bill, Evan suggests subscribing to something with a vague title like Perfect 10. Why? Because if you get caught, you can always claim it's a bowling website!

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