Super Duper

Ah, Superbad, one more in the time honored tradition of teenage sex comedies. I myself love them for their simplicity: a few raunchy jokes, a comfortably predictable story and some hot 20-something starlets doing God's work.

And while it's possible for a teenage sex romp to transcend its genre, becoming something more special than it has any right to be (much like professional wrestling), that's not why I watch them. Unfortunately for readers of The Hollywood Reporter, the same can't be said for Stephen Farber, a critic who is incapable of reviewing a movie on its own terms. Writes Farber:

Like "American Graffiti" and "Dazed and Confused," the film all takes place during a single day and night. But it doesn't have the smarts or the depths of those ensemble comedies. Instead it centers on the simple notion of underage kids itching to get booze and have sex.

If Farber's looking for an argument about the quality of the latter mentioned movies, he won't get one from me...mainly, because I've only seen one of them. But to then condemn Superbad as simply being about underage kids wanting booze and sex? He may as well condemn this Criticider for going to the nudie bar simply to watch Asian businessmen make it rain. If it's the genre itself that Farber isn't keen on, then his narrow minded review might've made sense. But that's clearly not the case here. Writes Farber:

And it's missing the belly laughs of earlier raunchfests "American Pie" and "There's Something About Mary." The film never achieves a hilariously outrageous epiphany like the hair gel scene in "Mary" -- a scene that can turn a teen comedy into a legend.

Again refusing to judge Superbad against itself, Farber has also taken on the role of revisionist historian. First of all, there are no teenagers featured in There’s Something About Mary, which, if I'm not mistaken, disqualifies it from being a teenage sex comedy. And second, American Pie had about as many belly laughs as Babel (and that film didn't need to have a kid fucking a pie in order to make me not laugh).

Before his review is done, Farber brings in yet another movie that he enjoyed more than Superbad. Only this time, he unwittingly sheds some light on his unspoken agenda. Writes Farber:

The friendship of Seth and Evan has homoerotic undertones, and there's a funny scene where they declare their undying love for each other. But because this is an American movie, don't expect the frankness of Alfonso Cuaron's "Y Tu Mama Tambien," which took the close friendship of two horny teenage pals to its logical conclusion.

Not only did Farber succeed in revealing the ending to a movie that I hadn't planned on watching until about two sentences ago, but he also made it clear that it's the, as of yet, untapped market of homosexual teenage sex comedies that's got his curlies in a twist (my apologies to But I'm a Cheerleader, a movie I enjoyed exceedingly more than Farber's review). Of course, if I had taken a pole in the chute before watching Superbad, I suppose my objectivity might also have been skewed.