‘Superbad’ has some good moments

It suffers from an annoying central character, among other things.

By ROBERT W. BUTLER

KANSAS CITY STAR

“Superbad” delivers some of the summer’s biggest laughs. It also tests our tolerance of smart-aleck, potty-mouthed teenage boys.

One suspects the closer you are to actually being a smart-aleck, potty-mouthed teen, the more you’ll like it.

Written by Seth Rogan (the schlubby star of this summer’s “Knocked Up”) and Evan Goldberg (“Da Ali G Show”) and directed by Greg Mottola (whose only other feature was 1996’s “The Daytrippers”), “Superbad” often seems to be made up from pieces of “American Graffiti,” “American Pie” and “Napoleon Dynamite,” all glued together with ear-burning sexual dialogue.

Best buds Evan (Michael Cera, of the late, lamented “Arrested Development”) and Seth (Jonah Hill) are facing their last weeks of high school in a miasma of angst and sexual frustration. They’re bummed by their unchanging status as geek virgins and the approaching end of their long friendship — Evan has been accepted by a fancy Eastern college but the academically indifferent Seth had to settle for State.

Unlikely pair

(By the way, what does it mean when the writers name the central characters after themselves? Just wondering ...)

They’re an unlikely pair. Evan is shy, bright and thoughtful — or at least as thoughtful as a guy in the thrall of unanswered sexual urges can be. Seth is big (i.e., fat), loud and in-your-face. His frustration at being a perennial outsider comes through in displays of know-it-all bravado and an unending supply of grotesque sexual comments.

As pathetic as these two may be, they still feel superior to Fogell (a scene-stealing Christopher Mintz-Plasse), a bespectacled nerd who tries to talk like a rapper and is so skinny he has to lie down in the shower to get wet.

The story

“Superbad” unfolds on a Friday/Saturday when Evan and Seth try to ingratiate themselves with the girls of their dreams by vowing to provide alcohol for that night’s party. This involves recruiting Fogell, who has just obtained a fake driver’s license that identifies him as McLovin (no first name), a 24-year-old resident of Hawaii.

Like “American Grafitti,” “Superbad” covers 24 hours as our young heroes drift around their suburban environment. Fogell’s attempt to buy booze is interrupted by a liquor store holdup. He spends the rest of the night sharing a squad car with a couple of young cops (writer Rogan, Bill Hader) who emotionally and intellectually make Fogell seem like a responsible adult. They’re like 13-year-olds with guns and badges.

Evan and Seth, meanwhile, find themselves at a house party frequented by drunken, coke-snorting twenty-somethings. Brawls break out and Seth tries to make off with the liquor.

Eventually the three end up at their original destination, a senior class bash where the liquor they have brought makes them cool for the first time. They also have close encounters of the sexual kind — or as close to sexual as they’ve ever been.

Hits and misses

When it’s funny, “Superbad” is really, really funny, usually in an I-can’t-believe-they-actually-said-that-in-a-movie way. We won’t be quoting any of the dialogue in a family newspaper.

But the film suffers from a paunchy middle passage, unnecessary length (almost two hours) and an obnoxious central character who gets more irritating with every passing scene.

Eventually we learn that Hill’s Seth is at heart an insecure kid who only acts like an obnoxious boor. But after an hour and 45 minutes of listening to his selfish, angry and misogynistic rants, his last-act conversion to sensitivity is suspect.

But then “Superbad” wants it both ways — to wallow in sexism and mind-altering excess, then make amends with a semi-sweet girls-are-human-too-so-respect-them denouement. It’s like a receiving a copy of The Book of Virtues wrapped in a Playboy centerfold.