Superbad (2007)

I'll say it plainly: Superbad might just be the funniest film ever made. I know that's a big claim, but I've watched it a few dozen times at this point and it still has me in stitches. That alone tells you something.

Look, I'll hold my hands up. This is a guilty pleasure. Or at least it started as one. There's something slightly embarrassing about a man well into his thirties admitting that his most-rewatched film is a raunchy American teen comedy about a couple of lads desperately trying to get booze for a party. And yet here we are. Because the thing that separates Superbad from the pack is that it doesn't stop being funny when you grow up. It grows with you, almost. The humour is crude, yes, but the friendship at the heart of it feels genuinely real. These are two mates who are terrified of drifting apart, who cover that fear up with bickering and bravado, and who don't quite know how to say what they actually mean to each other. That's not just a teen thing. That's a human thing.

Films like American Pie or Road Trip are funny when you're sixteen and find everything transgressive hilarious. Go back to them now and a lot of it falls flat. Superbad doesn't have that problem. The jokes are constructed properly, the comic timing is sharp, and the script has a density to it that rewards repeat viewing. You catch a background gag or a throwaway line you missed before, and suddenly you're crying laughing at something you've technically seen thirty times. That's craft. Juvenile craft, maybe, but craft nonetheless. It sits comfortably alongside Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) in that rare bracket of comedies that genuinely hold up no matter how many times you return to them.

And then there's McLovin. Christopher Mintz-Plasse walks into this film and absolutely steals it from under everyone. The character could so easily have been a one-note joke, just the weird nerdy kid played for cheap laughs. Instead, he's an icon. The deadpan delivery, the complete absence of self-awareness, the way he just rolls with every increasingly absurd situation he finds himself in with the two police officers. It's a masterfully funny performance by any measure, and the fact that it was his acting debut makes it almost unfair on everyone else in the industry. He arrived fully formed.

Jonah Hill and Michael Cera are brilliant together too, and their chemistry is the engine that keeps the whole thing running. Their friendship feels lived-in, the kind where you've known someone so long that half your conversation is just shorthand and shared references. The film earns its more sincere moments because of that. When it does stop to be honest about what these two mean to each other, it doesn't feel forced. You've been watching them for an hour and a half. You get it.

I've seen sharper films, more ambitious films, films that have moved me far more deeply. But if someone asks me what I'd stick on for a guaranteed good time? This is near the top of the list every single time. It's the kind of film that has a permanent place on your shelf precisely because it demands nothing from you except a willingness to laugh. On a rainy evening when your brain is fried and you just need to switch off, Superbad delivers without fail.

Four and a half stars. And I'd argue it's earned every single one of them.

Rating: ★★★★½  | Year: 2007  | Watched: 2025-04-07

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Sky Go · Now TV Cinema
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Philo · YouTube TV · Starz Apple TV channel
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Greg Mottola: Paul (2011)
More with Jonah Hill: 22 Jump Street (2014) · 21 Jump Street (2012) · The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)