Supergood

There's been a new crop of comedy offerings recently by a group of comedy writers and performers led by producer Judd Apatow (Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up). Just out on DVD is Superbad, a new comedy from the same stable, which has two geeky inseparable teenagers, Seth (Hill) and Evan (Cera) desperately trying to get laid before the ship off to two different colleges, something which will separate them for the first time in their lives. Hardly an original set-up; American Pie and Porky's spring to mind. But where Superbad is frequently crude, it does it with a genuine sense of heart that you don't often seen in a teen movie. And whilst Seth is perpetually foul-mouthed, it's with a sense of confidence that moves the rhythm of the film along. You never get the feeling that he's being crude for crudeness sake.

When they're shockingly invited to the “cool kid's” party, they're charged with bringing the booze, which they can only do through their ultra-geeky sidekick, Fogell (Mintz-Plass), who's had the dubious wit to obtain a fake ID with simply the name “McLovin”. Mintz-Plasse is superb in this role and provides cringes worthy of Napoleon Dynamite, I'm sure he'll have trouble shaking off the tag of McLovin' for as long as his career lasts. As things don't quite go to plan, he finds himself involved with two cops (Rogan himself and Hader), who turn out to be just as puerile as him and his buddies and they bring him along as a fellow passenger to witness some of their own incompetent escapades.

Seth and Evan meanwhile embark on a mission to steal some booze from a college party with some predictably calamitous results, but with what does result in some of the funniest (and crudest) moments of the film.

There are moments of genuine sadness too. These guys have been such close friends for so long, that their impending separation is surprisingly heart-warming. Who'd have guessed that beneath the layers of cock-jokes, bad-taste humour and gross-out comedy is a touching movie with real sentiment.