Superbad - go see it.

Superbad . . . McLovin! . . . read this review and go see the movie.

Judd Apatow describes his movies as a combination of "dick and heart". That works as well any description. Like his other recent hit movies, Superbad is marked by its raunchy, sharp male-perspective dialogue, a goofy set of insecure, sympathetic characters, and sensitive depictions of awkward situations. He uses few, if any, antagonists; the challenges to the protagonists are from a perspective of personal development. The stories are about life challenges, not bad guys. There's a sense of decency with more than a touch of sad nostalgia from the 30-something perspective.

I identified a lot with Evan's relationship with Becca, especially his dauntingly built-up idealized fantasy of Becca crashing against her real behavior as a normal teenage girl in their drunken bedroom failed-sex scene. It reminded me a lot of what I went through with Judy, in that sense, but more so with the disconnect between the fantasy of Judy/Us that gripped me so hard for so long and the reality of our actual interaction together. You can sense that Evan's real maturation with romantic relationships will begin at the end of the movie in the mall as he finally deals with Becca as a real person. I hope they hit it off, but it's just as likely that Evan, as he gets to know the real Becca, will find her to be as incompatible with him as Judy was for me. Whether they hit it off or not, it's highly unlikely Becca will match up to his fantasy of her. That's life's learning curve. Not so glorious as the pure fantasies of youth, but it's real and, as you age and life moves on, it's better than the alternative.

Eric