Is This the Funniest Screenplay of All Time? A Superbad Script Analysis
Writing a solid comedy screenplay is no easy task. I’ve always said that you can fake drama, but it’s impossible to fake comedy. This is because the quality of dramas isn’t necessarily measured in tears, but the quality of a comedy is almost always measured in laughs. So that leads me to my next question: What makes a comedy screenplay great? Well, to oversimplify, I believe there are three key boxes to check. First, you need a funny plot. It can be funny in its complexity (like The Big Lebowski), or it can be funny in its simplicity. Either way, the circumstances themselves must be somewhat amusing to an audience, because that’s what’s going to draw them in. Second, you need funny characters. Once again, what exactly makes a character funny is subjective and can vary. Usually, though, characters are funny for one of two reasons: they’re either somebody we’ve never seen before or they’re somebody we’ve met countless times. No matter what kind of characters they are, giving every person in the script the opportunity to earn a laugh maximizes the number of jokes you can tell. It also makes every circumstance you put these characters in funnier by association. And lastly, you need the jokes actually to be funny! This is where most writers go off the rails. They have a funny plot, they come up with some solid characters, but then they can’t tell a joke for the life of them. In my opinion, most modern comedies focus on checking only one of these three boxes, and that’s the reason why we haven’t had any classics in recent memory.
Which brings me to Superbad, a movie that checks every one of these boxes and practically goes above and beyond in every category. So much so that I’m willing to call it one of, if not the all-time, funniest screenplay of all time. Let’s dive in.
OPENING IMAGE
The film opens with a shot of Seth, one of our two protagonists, as he drives to pick up our other protagonist, Evan, for school. Their early-morning phone conversation about which porn-site is going to be the wisest investment, along with their lame respective morning routines, informs us right away all we need to know about these guys: they are losers.
SET UP
When Seth finally arrives at Evan’s house, he comes out to the car alongside his mom.
Not only are these two guys losers, but they’re also codependent; something that is going to be an issue when Evan goes off to college without Seth next year. Safe to say that this will come back as a conflict between the two boys later in the story.
On the route to school, the two boys stop at a 7/11 to grab some snacks, where they ponder over the reasons why neither of them has gotten laid (and whether or not they’ll have the chance to before college).
This is where we’re introduced to the love interests of each of the boys: Jules and Helen (in the final film, Helen’s name is Becca). Even though we haven’t met these girls yet, it’s more than likely that they’re both out of Evan and Seth’s leagues.
INCITING INCIDENT
Later, in Home-Economics class, some divine intervention finally gives Seth a beacon of hope to look to. Both his and Jules’s cooking partners are absent, so the teacher pairs them up.
Holy shit. The hot girl he likes not only talks to him voluntarily, but she actually invites him to a party at HER house. Seth rushes over to Evan to deliver the news, which is also where we meet the unexpected star character of the film, supernerd Fogell (better known as McLovin).
Side note: At this point in the film, all of the main characters have been introduced, which marks the first checked box on my list of elements a good comedy needs: actually funny characters. For these guys alone, Superbad is already on its way to being a classic.
Okay, back to the movie. The ultimate finale to their high school careers is set, but when Jules talks to Seth after class, the stakes are suddenly raised.
The plan is set for Evan and Seth: use Fogell’s fake ID to buy a shitton of booze, become the heroes of the party, and then, one can only pray, get lucky enough to hook up with their crushes. What can go wrong?
Also, it’s at this point that the second box of things a good comedy movie needs has been checked: a funny plot. Three high-school nerds need to produce alcohol for a cool kids’ party in order to hook up with their crushes? Yeah, I’m sold.
DEBATE
During gym, Evan and Seth debate the legitimacy of their plan and whether or not it’s worth the risks.
Well, it’s the end of the year, and they (literally) have almost nothing to lose. Fuck it, they’re going for it. All they have to do is get Fogell on board first.
BREAK INTO TWO
After school, the boys have encountered some minor issues with their plan. First of all, nobody can get in touch with Fogell. Without him, this whole thing goes to shit. Secondly, Helen entrusted Evan with a special request: a bottle of Goldschlager. Nothing major, but this special order adds a little bit of extra pressure on Evan.
Suddenly, Fogell arrives and gives us the most quotable scene of the movie:
And now, finally, the last box has been checked: these jokes are pretty damn good. Obviously, up to this point, there’s been plenty of funny one-liners, but the McLovin scene seals the deal. Within 30 minutes, it’s clear that this movie’s on pace to be a classic. All it needs to do is stay on course and stick the landing (Spoiler alert: it does. I mean, we haven’t even met the cop characters yet).
FUN AND GAMES
Operation “Get the Booze” is a go. The boys take the city bus to the nearest liquor store and send an extremely nervous Fogell in to do the deed.
Meanwhile, outside the store, Evan and Seth almost immediately abandon their posts to take a look at a pedestrian’s boobs.
Back inside the store, Fogell’s surprised to see that his fake ID actually worked. The cashier starts to bag up his alcohol when…
Seth and Evan return from their boob-seeking side mission to discover police inside the liquor store interrogating Fogell.
In their minds, Fogell’s been busted, and now they have an emergency on their hands. Not that their dear friend’s getting arrested, of course, but that they lost their only chance of getting booze for the party.
In a genius maneuver, Seth blackmails the stranger into getting them alcohol.
Back in the liquor store, Fogell has found himself in a similar predicament.
MIDPOINT
The midpoint of the script is where things really start going off the rails. First, we have Evan and Seth, who are being shuttled to an adult party by a complete stranger.
Then we have Fogell, who’s now on a completely separate adventure with the two cops who probably should have been arresting him. And somehow, someway, all three boys are trying to figure out a way to end their night at Jules’s party.
BAD TO WORSE
The driver who hits Seth with his car escorts them to a house party full of 30-year-olds, whom he claims are his friends. But when the homeowner catches him and kicks him out, a fist fight ensues on the street.
Seth and Evan realize this is the perfect opportunity to steal the party’s alcohol, so they sneak back inside while the crowd’s distracted. People start rolling in quicker than they thought, though, and the two have to try to act natural (which Seth does by dancing with a drunk college girl).
Back in the cop car, the two officers decide to respond to a distress call at a nearby bar, bringing Fogell along for the ride. They get there to discover a drunken homeless man destroying the place. When he sees the cops, he goes on a rampage and tries to run, evading every attempt at capture along the way. That is, until he runs directly into McLovin, who just so happened to be standing in the way of the only exit.
Back at the party, things somehow get even worse for the boys. Seth stops dancing with the girl to continue his beer heist, but is stopped by a couple of guys who notice something on his leg.
Things wonderfully escalate when Mark, the guy who just beat up the driver, sees the stain on Seth’s pants.
A complete brawl breaks out when Mark, trying to hit Seth, accidentally nails an innocent bystander in the head with a beer bottle. Once again, in all the chaos, Seth and Evan make their escape (but not before smuggling out some vodka in some empty laundry detergent containers first).
BREAK INTO THREE
Act Three begins with our two stories heading in very different directions. Fogell has completely embraced the McLovin persona and is getting drunk and shooting guns with his would-be arresting officers. He’s supposed to be the biggest loser of the three, and yet, here is sitting on top of the world.
The same cannot be said for Evan and Seth. They’ve faced an uphill battle since the beginning in trying to get this alcohol. For Seth, it’s his only way of achieving anything with Jules. She’s hot and nice and just straight-up out of his league, so supplying this booze gets him some cool credit and might just make her drunk enough to hook up with him. He needs this. Evan, on the other hand, just wants to hang out with Helen in any way. He’s way more sensitive than Seth and never really liked the “let’s get them wasted” plan in the first place. On top of that, tensions have been growing between him and Seth all night. Seth feels like Evan’s bailing on him to go to college, and in not being committed to the plan tonight, he’s bailing on him again. This is the final piece to the perfect comedy movie, one I did not mention before: stakes. Now, comedy is weird in that this isn’t always required. I’m not too pretentious to admit that sometimes a comedy is just good because it’s funny. But when you raise the stakes and give the characters something to be fighting for, it allows the audience to grow closer to them, appreciate the film more, and might even make the jokes a little bit funnier along the way.
FINALE
Seth and Evan begin fighting in the street, shoving one another back and forth. At the same time, Fogell and the cops get back in their cop car and continue with their night of joy rides.
Finally, these two stories converge when the cops, driving drunk, swerve around a corner and hit a pedestrian (who happens to be none other than Seth).
The cops create a game plan to blame everything on Seth and Evan by arresting them. The only problem is that they need Fogell to go along with it.
They point their guns at Evan and Seth and tell them to get on the ground. While they lay there on the street, the cops go back to the car to sweeten Fogell up with a cigarette. He still doesn’t realize it’s Evan and Seth who are getting arrested (a little touch of dramatic irony never hurts).
The cops and Fogell get out of the car and march over to the boys. They all see each other for the first time, and everybody’s flabbergasted.
Evan, realizing that these cops must be idiots if they’ve been hanging out with Fogell all night, leaps up and runs away.
Now all three boys are running from the cops. After various cop-escaping charades (one of which left Helen’s Goldschlager destroyed), they discover that they’re only three blocks from the party. For just a moment, they put their differences aside to focus on one thing: getting the booze to the destination.
While Seth starts rapidly taking shots with the rest of the party, Evan tries to find Helen. And to his surprise, the word on the street is that she’s super into him. Oh yeah, and Fogell even drinks enough liquid courage to start flirting with a girl.
Right about now, things are looking up for the fellas.
The guys all make their moves on their respective ladies. Evan goes upstairs into a room with Helen while Seth attempts to finally seduce Jules downstairs. The only problem is, Seth’s the one who’s hammered, not her. Who knows, though? He still might pull it off. And Fogell, still on a hot streak for the night, goes into a room with his girl within minutes of talking to her. “McLovin” is really working for this guy.
But then, almost simultaneously, things for all three boys take a turn for the worse…
First, we have Seth and Jules:
Not only is Seth totally embarrassed and ashamed, but he’s nearing blackout drunk at this point (and nearly ends up killing Jules as a result).
Then, we have Evan and Helen:
Strike two. Finally, we get to the only guy left who might actually get laid: Fogell. Things are going perfectly fine with him and Nicola when suddenly, cops arrive to bust up the party. And not just any cops…Officer Michaels and Slater. Strike Three.
Seth panics, pulls himself up, and runs into the party to save Evan. The two drunkenly make their escape out the back door, once again abandoning Fogell (who happens to be right in the middle of losing his virginity).
The cops pretend to arrest Fogell (making him even cooler to the kids at school) before driving away to destroy the evidence of the night.
Meanwhile, Evan and Seth go back home and have a sleepover in Evan’s basement. Finally, they’re able to talk through all their shit.
CLOSING IMAGE
The next day, Evan and Seth go to the mall to shop when they run into none other than Helen and Jules. At first, both groups try to figure way to naturally avoid each other, but it’s too late. They gotta talk.
Seth apologizes to Jules, and Helen apologizes to Evan. Both parties realize that they were dumb and drunk the night before, so nobody has any hard feelings.
And not only is everybody forgiven, but the girls are each willing to give the boys another shot. Evan and Helen go one way, and Seth and Jules go the other. The inseparable, codependent losers have finally been able to detach from one another and spend some time with the other sex. As the two groups walk away, for a brief moment, Seth and Evan both turn around to wave each other goodbye.
WHY IT’S GREAT
Superbad is one of the best comedy scripts ever written because it contains hilarious characters, an amusing plot, and legitimately funny, well-crafted jokes scattered throughout. But besides those things, it also contains a lot of heart and is one of the most relatable teen movies of all time. Upon further review, I think a lot of this can be credited to the fact that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg started writing this script when they were 13 years old. Obviously, the two main characters were based on themselves, most of the storylines were likely inspired by true events, and all of the emotional conflict was probably something they both experienced during their final years of high school. And it’s through those experiences that Superbad was able to come across so real, so uncomfortable, and so damn funny.
