McLuvin gets some lovin’

The sick and twisted minds that produced laugh-fests such as “40-Year Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up” are back with their second comedy of the summer: “Superbad.” The movie documents a day in the life of a trio of socially awkward high schoolers looking, of all things, to get drunk and have sex before they graduate and head to college.

At first glance, this sounds like a great premise for a sub-par film. But in the hands of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, it does almost everything super awesome (sorry for the clich√© lame pun). Jonah Hill and Michael Cera play Seth and Evan, two best friends who are about to head their separate ways. Seth is on his way to a state school while Evan, along with other “friend” Fogell
(newcomer Christopher Mintz-Plasse), is on his way to Dartmouth. Not exactly part of the “in crowd,” they droll about their days talking dirty (more so in Seth’s case) and wishing they could be with their crushes, Seth’s Jules (Emma Stone) and Evan’s Becca (Martha Maclsaac). Their goal is to be each girl’s “mistake” before they graduate, and with Fogell getting a fake ID, they stumble their way into Jules’ party.

However, things go sour after Fogell’s fake ID renames him McLuvin and gets him caught up in a robbery, from which he befriends whack-job cops Michaels (Seth Rogen) and Slater (Bill Hader). Seth and Evan get caught up in their own shenanigans, but all the while the three are still attempting to reach Jules’ party.

“Superbad” is able to do exactly what “Knocked Up” did so well: make very funny situations both believable and relatable. It is so easy for moviegoers to see at least a bit of themselves in (at least) the main characters. This is largely due to the fact that Rogen and Goldberg began writing “Superbad” in high school.

But still, some of the subjects raised throughout the film are a bit much. Nothing ever goes too far, but some things could have been left out of the finished product. You may find yourself laughing hysterically one minute, but then falling into a “meh” mood the next. Luckily, “Superbad” keeps the laughs coming pretty steadily, so although parts may seem a bit out there, you will go right back to laughing not long afterwards.

So with a super funky ’70s feel to it, “Superbad” proves to be super good. The characters are awesome, it doesn’t drag on, and the humor is-for the most part-great. And although all the characters are hihlarious, McLovin deserves his own sentence: he is superbad within himself, and hopefully Mintz-Plasse goes on to funnier things after this. So go do yourself a comedic favor and see “Superbad.”