SUPERBAD - Blu-ray review

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.

Audio:
The audio is better, with two options to choose from, a superbad "English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 or PCM 5.1 (uncompressed) track in English, as well as a French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Portuguese and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are in Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, and Chinese.

I know that TrueHD has its fans, but I much prefer the PCM uncompressed sound, which really brings the funky background music to the forefront. Some of those guitar riffs sound so crisp you'd swear you were in a blues club sitting 15 feet away from the stage. Thumping bass, but most impressive, mid-range and high-range notes that really hang in the air.

Extras:
I have to say that just as I'm suspicious of raunchy comedies, I approach commentaries with hesitation--especially comedies, where you get the feeling that the principals think they have to be funny. Well, surprise surprise, this commentary track really IS hilarious, and, like the movie, just plain weird in spots. The set-up is strange, but it also makes for more humor. The director and his 13-year-old daughter join Michael Cera in New York, while the ribald Jonah Hill is on conference-call feed from L.A. One of them can swear his head off, while the other has to keep it cleaner because of Greg Mottola's daughter. At one point one of them remarks, "This is not Maude-friendly material," and he's right. But as this is going on, it makes them all the more conscious of the raunchiness and gives them plenty to joke about. There are a lot of genuine laughs on this track, so much so that you want to keep listening through the whole thing. And yet we learn a lot, too. When Cera is asked if he was hesitant to make a "naughty" movie because of what his mom might think, he counters with, "My mom actually read the script before I did, and she said, 'I think you should have a look at this.'"

This two-disc set is jam-packed with bonus features, most of them unusually entertaining. If you loved the two cops you'll like 13 backseat improv conversations that are in-character sketches. It's as if we're riding along with these guys as they patrol the streets and pick up different characters. Some of the funniest? A guy busted for drugs who still has cocaine on his nose and moustache and complains about being arrested without cause, and a businesswoman who points out the mistake the cops made by not cuffing her behind the back. "I can do THIS" she says, choking one of the cops.

The "making of" feature zeroes in on the real Evan and Seth, shows us the real Fogel on-set with his actor-counterpart, and captures the latter shooting a gun for the first time in his life.

You want raunch? How about "The Vag-tastic Voyage," in which a guy says "let's find some bitches," offers them money to strip and do other things, then dumps them off without paying them what he said he would. I'm guessing Maude didn't get to watch this one.

I personally like watching audition tapes, and we get them for Seth, Evan, and Fogel, plus table reads from 2002 and 2006. Another bit of interesting archival ephemera are Cera's voicemail messages from co-star Hill. It turns out this is how he learned he got the part.

There are plenty of staged extras too, with some of them funny, and others simply random. "Snakes on Jonah" shows the director and a "Fear Factor" bunch subjecting the co-star to all sorts of critters. But what's the point? "Everyone Hates Michael Cera" is mildly amusing, as the co-star narrates his experience and his encounters with others just don't bear out what he says. A "Press Junket Meltdown," which is a staged interview that falls apart, is funnier than most of these things.

"Dance Moves" shows us the stars as they learn the moves for the title sequence, "The Music of Superbad" is a nifty feature on the guys who did the music, and they're more than your typical studio musicians. These guys INVENTED funk. They played with James Brown, George Clinton, and Bobby Blue Bland. It's a fascinating feature. So is the on-set diaries, which documents the actual first-shots of the film, among other things. It's interesting to see the cast filming two different ways, too--once for the movie, and again using "TV Safe Lines."

Rounding out the extras are two deleted/extended scenes, an isolated "semen" conversation between the cops, and an exclusive first-look at the guys' next film, "Pineapple Express."

In the exclusive-to-Blu-ray department, there's a Super-meter which allows you to keep a running tally of the superbad language and sex references in the film. I picture this one turned into a drinking game, somehow.

Bottom Line:
I wouldn't go so far as to call this an "intelligent" teen comedy, but because the raunchiness is balanced by fun characters and genuinely funny lines and sequences, "Superbad" is a superfun romp of a #@*@#!-ing film.