Superbad (2007)
88%RT Audience Score: 87%
Awards & Nominations: 11 wins & 24 nominations
Deftly balancing vulgarity and sincerity while placing its protagonists in excessive situations, Superbad is an authentic take on friendship and the overarching awkwardness of the high school experience
Superbad is the ultimate coming-of-age movie that will make you laugh, cringe, and maybe even shed a tear. It’s a hilarious and heartwarming story about two best friends trying to score alcohol and girls before they head off to college. The witty banter between Michael Cera and Jonah Hill is pure gold, and the awkward situations they find themselves in will have you squirming in your seat. It’s like American Pie meets Dazed and Confused, but with a lot more heart. So grab some popcorn, a cold one, and get ready for a wild ride.
Production Company(ies)
Charles Chaplin Productions,
Distributor
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Fox Hills Mall – 294 Fox Hills Mall, Culver City, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for pervasive crude and sexual content, strong language, drinking, some drug use and a fantasy/comic violent image – all involving teens
Year of Release
2007
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:SDDS Dolby Digital DTS
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 53m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 17, 2007 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 4, 2007
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen, Martha MacIsaac, Emma Stone, Aviva Baumann, Joe Lo Truglio, Kevin Corrigan, Dave Franco, Carla Gallo, Jody Hill, Danny McBride, Evan Goldberg, David Krumholtz, Martin Starr, Lauren Miller Rogen, Shauna Robertson, Judd Apatow, directed by Greg Mottola, written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, comedy, R rating, box office success, $121.5M gross, high school, graduation party, friendship, awkwardness, partying, alcohol, vulgarity, sincerity, police officers, separation anxiety, teenage innocence, crude sexual content, strong language, drinking, drug use, flat aspect ratio, Sony Pictures Entertainment, SDDS, DTS, Dolby SRD, reviewed by Devin Gordon, Scott Foundas, Ryan Gilbey, Bob Mondello, Christopher Orr, Tom Charity, Mike Massie, Richard Propes, Micheal Compton, Mattie Lucas, Dorothy Woodend, Sean Axmaker, 207 critic reviews, 65 top critic reviews, 181 fresh reviews, 26 rotten reviews
Worldwide gross: $170,812,526
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $244,700,542
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 591
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 26,684,901
US/Canada gross: $121,463,226
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $174,004,319
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 438
US/Canada opening weekend: $33,052,411
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $47,349,823
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 255
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $20,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $28,651,358
Production budget ranking: 1,174
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $15,428,756
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $200,620,428
ROI to date (est.): 455%
ROI ranking: 284
Michael Cera – Evan
Christopher Mintz-Plasse – Fogell
Bill Hader – Officer Slater
Seth Rogen – Officer Michaels
Martha MacIsaac – Becca
Director(s)
Greg Mottola
Writer(s)
Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg
Producer(s)
Judd Apatow, Shauna Robertson
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
11 wins & 24 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (207) | Top Critics (65) | Fresh (181) | Rotten (26)
… “Superbad” isn’t perfect. But it’s super close.
February 7, 2018
Devin Gordon
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
Superbad is a movie about partying and getting wasted and getting the girl, but as the night wears on, much wisdom is gained too, about self, friendship and the end of teenage innocence in all its wondrous, terrifying splendor.
August 3, 2013
Scott Foundas
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
Honest goodwill, fond observational detail and Greg Mottola’s exuberant direction make the picture nigh on irresistible, but there are some missteps.
July 6, 2010
Ryan Gilbey
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
What makes the film so appealing is the disconnect between what comes from the mouths of these hormone-addled pups and what’s going on in their heads, where they’re still clinging desperately to the innocence they’re leaving behind.
October 18, 2008
Bob Mondello
NPR.org
TOP CRITIC
[Cera] has some of the best comic timing of anyone working in film today, a precocious sense of the awkward pauses and misread cues in which social panic resides.
September 22, 2008
Christopher Orr
The New Republic
TOP CRITIC
This is the funniest picture since Borat, and more emotionally nuanced than you would expect.
January 4, 2008
Tom Charity
CNN.com
TOP CRITIC
The oftentimes outrageous dialogue and vulgar exchanges between stars Michael Cera and Jonah Hill are both wildly hilarious and genuinely portrayed.
November 28, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
An intelligent and occasionally insightful look at the sometimes scary place we call the adolescent male mind.
September 24, 2020 | Rating: 3.0/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
There are enough laughs to make it worth your time. It may not be super good, but it is good enough.
November 21, 2019
Micheal Compton
Bowling Green Daily News
Hysterically funny and also strangely poignant and heartfelt.
June 6, 2019 | Rating: 3/4
Mattie Lucas
The Dispatch (Lexington, NC)
Yes, Superbad is a boy’s story, so a certain perspective should be expected, and it’s not the cheerful filth that bothers me, nor even the conventional morality; it’s the paternalism.
August 23, 2017
Dorothy Woodend
The Tyee (British Columbia)
… the love child of American Pie and Dazed and Confused.
February 14, 2017
Sean Axmaker
Stream on Demand…
Plot
Seth and Evan are best friends, inseparable, navigating the last weeks of high school. Usually shunned by the popular kids, Seth and Evan luck into an invitation to a party, and spend a long day, with the help of their nerdy friend Fogell, trying to score enough alcohol to lubricate the party and inebriate two girls, Jules and Becca, so they can kick-start their sex lives and go off to college with a summer full of experience and new skills. Their quest is complicated by Fogell’s falling in with two inept cops who both slow and assist the plan. If they do get the liquor to the party, what then? Is sex the only rite of passage at hand?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Superbad on Fresh Kernels.
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