Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here, with the 57th review of SUPERBAD this site has had in the last few months.

How did we get to be so lucky this summer?

While the big-budget action offerings and multiple sequels that have come out this season have been a mixed bag ranging from "pretty good" to "complete crap," this has been a particularly good year for comedies, especially those aimed at older audiences. We began the summer of right with Knocked Up, starring Seth Rogen and written and directed by Judd Apatow; and now we end it with SUPERBAD, a slightly raunchier but no less funny high school-based offering co-written by and starring Rogen (and longtime friend Evan Goldberg) and produced by Apatow. Since their work together on THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, the Apatow/Rogen pairing has become something of a standard for R-rated comedies. There are no punches pulled as these films do anything and go anywhere for their laughs, but there is also a very naturalistic flow to the dialog and situations. Sometimes we feel we're listening in on private conversations, probably very similar to those we've had with only our closest friends. And the creative team behind these films also has a sincere desire to give us characters we genuinely like. They may be pigs at times, but that doesn't stop these boys/men from being likable, sometimes even lovable.

As directed by Greg Mottola (who helmed THE DAYTRIPPERS and several episodes of "Arrested Development" and "Undeclared"), SUPERBAD tells the story of two lifelong best friends (who just happen to be named after the writers, Seth and Evan) as the enter the final weeks of their lives in high school. This time wouldn't be nearly as important to the duo if Evan (Micahel Sera) wasn't leaving for college after the summer, thus separating the two for the first time in their lives. Seth (played by the inspired comic actor Jonah Hill; this guy could read directions on how to boil an egg and I would laugh) says it doesn't bother him to be separated from his best friend, but we know better. To celebrate what could be their last summer together, Seth and Evan set forth on a plan on getting summer girlfriends, which begins by getting these young women drunk at a party and hooking up with them. The fact that the two lovely women in question even speak to these numbskulls on a regular basis doesn't seem to clue them in that their tactics probably aren't necessary, but that doesn't stop them from spending most of the film trying to acquire alcohol for said party and having many ridiculous adventures along the way.

The third player in the story is Fogell (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse), but thanks to a creative fake Hawaiian driver's license purchased by Fogell to buy booze, the name McLovin will go down in history as one of the great screen names in history. Seth and Evan get separated from McLovin early in the film after a botched attempt to buy alcohol. In the ultimate act of kindness to audiences, SUPERBAD actually becomes two extremely hilarious film as Seth and Evan try to find alternatives to McLovin's fake ID to get booze, and Fogell ends up befriending and rolling around town with two local cops (played by Rogen and "SNL's" Bill Hader, who was also very funny earlier this summer in HOT ROD). All of the kids in this film talk a tough game (especially when it comes to women), but as you'd suspect, they are all softies at heart. They aren't quite full-fledged outcasts, but they do exist on the fringe of their high school society, and the prospect of starting over at college is terrifying. And it's on this pivotal life-changing event that the filmmakers rightfully expect many of us who have lived through similar situations to identify.

To talk about individual events and gags in SUPERBAD is pointless. The film is pretty much top-to-bottom funny. Some situations will make you laugh more than others; some may make you gag (a scene involving Seth getting blood on his pants leg comes to mind); but the whole movie is a scream. What takes us slightly off guard is a thread of sweetness and honesty that weaves its way through the film. This has become Apatow's familiar trademark, and I don't think it's one that will ever get old. By making the characters in his movies legitimately nice people, their sometimes-rude behavior gets a pass. This may not seem fair or even right, but it works for me. There are no real bad guys in these movies, and in the end the characters only have their own immaturity and hang-ups to overcome in order to win over the girl or reach some milestone in their lives.

Good intentions aside, SUPERBAD will just plain make you laugh. Hill and Cera work together so effortlessly, it's as much a treat to see them rip each other apart as it is to experience them coming to grips with the prospect of being apart after high school. I would also imagine Superbad is the kind of film that will actually get better with repeated viewings; and to test my theory, I plan on watching this film repeatedly. I recommend beginning with one viewing and going from there.

Capone