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yoman877
Reviews
Superbad (2007)
They said that would happen in health class
I must admit, I didn't have very high expectations for "Superbad" going in to the film. I still had a bit of a sour taste in my mouth from "Knocked Up", and based on that I thought the people involved making this pseudo-series of films were just trying to ride the wave of success that "40 Year Old Virgin" created and milk as much money out of it as they could.
And things weren't looking good at the start. It was pretty much all "penis jokes" for the first 20 minutes, and personally I think they could have done better than that. But from that point on things really turned around, and I ended up really liking the film. Some of the scenes and lines will LIVE FOREVER, without a doubt in my mind (i.e. the scene with Becca and Evan in the bedroom). I think they went back to a more 40YOV feel, and that was a very good idea.
The only other complaint I had was with the ending...I thought it was a LITTLE too cheesy and not very realistic, but hey, I'm a nit-picker. So yeah, the beginning and end could have been a little better, but a good chunk of "Superbad" is some of the funniest stuff I've seen in a while. Definitely worth watching...
Knocked Up (2007)
Stuck in No Man's Land - A "half comedy" ?
After watching Knocked Up I left with a feeling that I wanted SOMETHING more. Yes, it sure had good bits of that 40 Year Old Virgin type humor, and it was also a lot sweeter and more serious than 40 YOV...but that is where I think it failed. The movie had no identity.
I wasn't sure how to handle the characters. Was I supposed to identify with them and take them seriously? Or was I supposed to laugh at how goofy they were? There was a little bit of both, but because of that I was never really able to get into the groove of it. In this case two halves did NOT make a whole.
Sure, it was good for a few laughs, the acting was fine (not outstanding), the production was fine (again, not outstanding)...but I don't think it was worth seeing in the theaters. It just left me in limbo...I couldn't really get into the comedy because these were SERIOUS issues they explored, and I also couldn't take the characters and their problems as seriously as I wanted to because of the wacky 40 YOV humor. Knocked Up tried to be two things at once, and because of that it lost lots of power on both sides of the coin.
Maybe people like this new kind of "half comedy"...but I couldn't really get into it. And it just seemed to drag ON AND ON. Especially because from what I heard there was supposed to be constant gut busting humor...but to be honest, I don't think this is nearly as good as 40 YOV, because it takes itself too seriously. You knew what 40 YOV was from the start, right up the goofy song ending...they kept you in that comedy mode. But Knocked Up seemed to get caught in no man's land to me...and just couldn't satisfy either my want for comedy or my want for romance/drama.
Overall it's not a bad film, but I'd wait for it on DVD and a lazy, rainy day :)