For all intents and purposes the crowning achievement of Michael Cera, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and director Greg Mottola, “Superbad” tells the story of two best friends wrangling with their imminent graduation from high school. In true screwball fashion, things get out of hand quickly as the pair attempts to make the most of the time before their departure to different colleges.
“Superbad” helped launch Michael Cera’s movie career in earnest and solidified Seth Rogen’s place in the pantheon of first-rate millennial comedians. It was a hit with audiences and critics alike: In addition to scoring an Austin Film Critics award for 2007, the film also made a tidy sum at the box office: Despite a modest $20 million budget, in fact, “Superbad” scored over $170 million in profits.
In terms of tone, “Superbad” is very much a story in the “buddy comedy” mold of American feature films. Co-writer Seth Rogen clearly knew his comedy history: The film keeps to the tradition of movies like “Animal House,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” and “American Pie.”
Here are just a few films that resemble “Superbad” in both tone and subject matter. Each of these films is a masterclass in American comedy; my own personal “Superbad”-esque favorites are “Animal House,” “Billy Madison,” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
1. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
Directed by Judd Apatow and starring Steve Carell, “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” made a whopping $177 million at the box office on a modest $26 million budget. The film won a Critics Choice Association Award and catapulted Carell and co-star Seth Rogen to fame and fortune when it was released in 2005.
As the movie’s title would suggest, “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” is about a shy middle-aged man who has so far failed to find a meaningful relationship with a significant other. But it is the film’s sense of irony and sweet humor that is the draw here and links the movie to “Superbad.” It certainly doesn’t hurt that “Superbad” co-writer Seth Rogen steals every scene that he’s in here.
2. Knocked Up (2007)
Another of Judd Apatow’s hit films, “Knocked Up” gave the spotlight to “Superbad”-co-writer Seth Rogen when the film was released to critical acclaim in 2007. Despite its modest $30 million budget, “Knocked Up” made over $200 million in sales at the box office.
The film’s hilarious plot concept details the way in which a hapless loser navigates an accidental pregnancy with a one-night stand. Like “Superbad,” moreover, “Knocked Up” affectionately casts an eye on suburban America and middle-class values: This is essentially a John Hughes film repackaged for the millennial generation.
The movie won the AFI “Movie of the Year” award and helped launch just about a thousand “bromance” films.
3. The Hangover (2009)
Essentially a “bromance” story gone wrong, director Todd Phillips’s “The Hangover” details the kind of situation that might happen to the protagonists of “Superbad” ten years on from the original story. The tale of a spectacularly failed bachelor party in Las Vegas, the film was a monster hit and made nearly $500 million at the box office.
Considering that the film was made on a budget of only $30 million, “The Hangover” was one of the biggest hits of its day. The film also made stars Zach Galifinakis, Bradley Cooper, and Ed Helms into household names.
4. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
“Anchorman” was a hit with audiences when it was released in 2004: With a small budget of $26 million, the film made over $90 million at the box office.
But “Anchorman” was always more than just a hit project: As a movie, it ushered in a new era of American comedy led by director Adam McKay and comedian Will Farrell.
Their formula was simple: The pair took the goofy sensibilities of Adam Sandler’s 90s hits and ramped them up to a comedic breaking point. The result was a success: The story of a hapless talking head from a local news program in the 1970s, “Anchorman” won a slew of MTV film awards and charmed audiences across the globe.
But its status as a cult classic has made “Anchorman” a defining film of “aughts” culture and a comedy unlike any other. This was the template by which “Superbad” was created.
5. Tommy Boy (1995)
Investors didn’t get a vast return on “Tommy Boy”: The film “only” made $30 million at the box office on a $20 million budget and it was hardly the stuff of Academy Award speculation when the film was first released.
But “Tommy Boy” was a sleeper hit with audiences and revolutionized American comedy for a generation. The “bromance” of “Superbad” wouldn’t be possible without the interplay between “Tommy Boy” stars Chris Farley and David Spade or the comedic pacing used by director Peter Segal.
To wit, in order to understand “Superbad,” you have to understand “Tommy Boy.”
6. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
As one of the comedies that helped define “aughts” humor, “Dodgeball” took “bro” comedy to some truly absurd heights. Primarily the vehicle of stars Vince Vaughan and Ben Stiller, “Dodgeball” was nonetheless ably helmed by director Rawson Marshall Thurber.
Let’s be honest: The gross-out slapstick of “Dodgeball” was never going to win “Best Picture” at the Oscars, but audiences loved the film’s silly humor: The film earned a remarkable $150 million at the box office. Having been made on a budget of $20 million, that amount of success puts “Dodgeball” squarely in hit comedy territory.
The laidback humor of “Dodgeball” also clearly had a big effect on the tone of “Superbad”: Both films are as unpretentious as comedies come and their portrayal of mainstream American life is as affectionate as it is silly.
7. American Pie (1999)
When it was released in 1999 to widespread acclaim, “American Pie” established the idea that mainstream audiences wanted to see suburban mishaps played out on the big screen.
“American Pie” covers the same age range and subject matter as “Superbad” and is by extension a coming of age story told in true American style. The film is for all intents and purposes the prototype of “Superbad.”
Ably directed by Paul Weitz, the world of “American Pie” is seen through the perspective of lead actor Jason Biggs’s character Jim Levenstein; as a hapless high school senior, Levenstein must navigate the awkward transition from childhood into adulthood. But things get extremely awkward as Levenstein and his pals attempt to make their way into the world of dating.
Made on a budget of $20 million, “American Pie” was a breakout hit and earned $100 million at the box office. However, the film’s gross-out humor was not a hit with awards committees. Even without a slew of Oscars, however, “American Pie” deeply influenced the American comedy scene for a generation.
8. Office Space (1999)
With its cubicles and neckties, “Office Space” seems a bit dated by 2021 standards: No serious technology firm looks like the film’s fictional Initech anymore.
But the movie’s tale of a bored middle-class office drone will ring true with anyone who has spent time working in the corporate trenches of mainstream America.
Directed by Mike Judge, “Office Space” should have been the breakout hit of 1999: But where the same year’s “American Pie” cranked up the gross-out humor to 11, “Office Space” was an altogether more subtle affair. It wasn’t a success per se and made a scant $12 million at the box office on a $10 million budget.
The film certainly should have swept theatergoers off their feet: Heartthrob Jennifer Aniston brilliantly played a goofy love interest to likable star Ron Livingston; moreover, seemingly every line in the film is quotable.
But it’s the sendup of working-class Americana that really puts “Office Space” in the realm of comedy classics. Like many of Mike Judge’s best projects, however, the film attained cult status long before it started turning a big profit in DVD and streaming sales.
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Ably co-directed by Python members Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” has revolutionized comedy for over 45 years. Arguably no film on this list would exist without the influence of “Holy Grail”: Its silly humor is the bedrock of films like “Superbad.”
A mock historical epic, the film tells the tale of King Arthur’s mythical search for a cup used at the Last Supper. Given that this is a Monty Python film, it should come as no surprise that things go spectacularly wrong for Arthur and his band of Round Table knights. Killer rabbits and holy hand grenades are just part of the fun.
The film was most certainly not a big-budget affair and awards were not forthcoming for the most part: Indeed, Beatles guitarist and songwriter George Harrison is said to have mortgaged his house to fund the project. “Holy Grail” did manage to take in a modest $5 million on a scant $400,000 budget, however.
10. Billy Madison (1995)
Some would call the humor of Adam Sandler’s vehicle “Billy Madison” juvenile. But the film is far more intelligent than its goofy humor would have you believe; metaphorically speaking, director Tamra Davis knew how to keep the film’s comedic pacing running for mile after mile: The film simply never lets up with its veritable cavalcade of silly jokes.
When it was first released to audiences in 1995, “Madison” made a modest $25 million on a $10 million budget. But it had an immense effect on American comedy in general. The life of the archetypical “man-child” protagonist explored within the film set the tone for movies like “Superbad.”
Far too immature in its humorous stylings for the Academy, the film nonetheless cemented the status of Adam Sandler as the most successful comedian of his generation.
11. Happy Gilmore (1996)
Dennis Dugan may have taken over the directorial reins from Tamra Davis here, but this is a sequel to “Billy Madison” in all but name. The film was more ambitious than “Madison” and made almost twice as much money at the box office, but the gross-out humor of “Gilmore” influenced a generation of comedians including “Superbad” writer Seth Rogen.
12. Animal House (1978)
Next to “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” no film has had an impact on comedy quite like “Animal House.” From a modest budget of $3 million, “Animal House” made an astonishing $140 million in sales at the box office. Its financial success aside, the film is a vitally important part of American humor.
Every facet of “Animal House” has influenced films ranging from “Tommy Boy” to “American Pie” to “Superbad”: Here you’ll find the sophomoric humor of young adults finding their place in the world; the deadpan one-liners that were the hallmark of Harvard “Lampoon”-style humor throughout the 1970s and 1980s; the gentle skewing of middle-class American morality. It’s all here.
Throughout the film, director John Landis helms a cast of players that are simply hilarious in their own right: In particular, John Belushi had a career-defining moment here as the slovenly-but-charming John “Bluto” Blutarsky.
Frat-house hijinks are the order of the day throughout “Animal House.” The film was never going to win an Oscar, but its slobs-versus-snobs ethos would probably prevent the film’s participants from caring all that much even if it did.
13. Step Brothers (2008)
Taking the concept of “bromance” to its logical conclusion, “Step Brothers” literally casts Will Farrell and John C. Reilly as two “bros” with severe cases of arrested development. “Anchorman” director and long-time Farrell collaborator Adam McKay is back in the saddle here; his trademark gross-out humor is never far from the surface.
“Step Brothers” was a massive hit with audiences and took home $128 million at the box office. But its broad appeal masks an incredibly intelligent level of humor that places it alongside “Superbad” as a classic of the “aughts.”
14. The Blues Brothers (1980)
By any way you reckon it, “The Blues Brothers” was one of the biggest comedies of the 1980s; with a box office draw of over $115,000,000 on a $30 million budget, it remains one of the most profitable comedic films ever made.
Along with “Animal House,” “The Blues Brothers” is also one of the crowning achievements of director John Landis. The film details the exploits of a pair of musician brothers hoping to save an orphanage from a massive tax bill.
The film certainly set the tone for the decade to come: Absurdist humor in “The Blues Brothers” was always matched by a lot of heart from stars John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. The Academy wasn’t keen on the lack of seriousness in “The Blues Brothers”; this wasn’t a film that was going to get a nomination for Best Picture. Yet “The Blues Brothers” has made an indelible mark on American comedy and on American culture as a whole.
The movie’s buddy film trope also directly influenced the structure and tone of “Superbad” to an incredible degree.
15. Trading Places (1983)
As he did with “The Blues Brothers,” director John Landis once again revolutionized American comedy with “Trading Places.” Starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd, the film spoofed racism and fiercely criticized the kind of class divisions that plagued the United States during the 1970s and 1980s.
The film earned a monumental $90 million at the box office on only a $15 million budget; more importantly, however, “Trading Places” showed that comedies could act as social barometers for human relationships.
This was a lesson that the creators of “Superbad” clearly did not ignore. “Trading Places” wasn’t a hit with awards committees; almost forty years on from its release, however, the film remains the quintessential satire of American class consciousness.