Cowman

If Kevin Smith tried to write a teen sex comedy, the rough draft might look something like this movie. Luckily for us, Smith left the tired genre alone. And so, here we are in 2008, and along comes Superbad.

We've seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

We've seen Porky's.

We've seen American Pie.

We've seen the thousands of other movies that have adopted this formula (annoying teenagers trying to get laid + alcohol = hijinks).

So where else is there to go with this kind of a movie? Nowhere. A teen sex comedy is a teen sex comedy, period. This movie goes way too far in its desperate attempts to sway the viewer into thinking it's something deeper. It isn't. It's a parade of unlikable teenagers on a quest for booze and sex with a nice little moral at the end to make us feel like we weren't wasting our time. At least the aforementioned movies didn't kid themselves about their intent.

This isn't a terrible movie, but it's certainly not very good. There are a few genuine laughs along the way. But its silly little "social commentary" and its insistence on developing empty, one-dimensional characters are nothing short of pitiful.

Don't believe the hype.

There are some movies that are bad.

There are some movies that are downright terrible.

There are some movies that are so utterly unwatchable that they will undoubtedly etch themselves into the top tier in the history of the worst cinema every conceived.

And then, there is Super Troopers.

Super Troopers is one of those movies that is so ill-conceived, so dreadfully unfunny, so frustratingly unsatisfying that it seems criminal. It is astounding to me that this movie has a 6.8 rating as I write this, and that so many people find it to be such a hilarious "classic". Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate dumb comedies (Dumb & Dumber is one of my favorite comedies) but this is sub-retarded material here. I wouldn't have even found this funny at thirteen years old.

The plot involves a bumbling Vermont highway police force who happen upon a drug smuggling ring. They, along with their sworn enemies, a local police squad who seem to have everything going for them, battle it out to try and crack the case first. Terminally unfunny antics ensue.

I don't know much about Broken Lizard, the comedy troupe responsible for this celluloid torture, but if this is their best work, as many fans claim it is, then I'd hate to see what they're followers consider to be average. The fact that this has a cult following will forever be a mystery to me.

Recently divorced Myles Berkowitz has an idea for a movie: date twenty different women, film the encounters, and hope to God that there is a real spark between him and one of the subjects. Remarkably, his agent Richard seals a deal with bigshot producer Elie Samaha, and Berkowitz is given $60,000 to make his movie. So goes the plot for "20 Dates", a comic "documentary" about finding love in LA. Note my usage of quotation marks around the word documentary.

This is indeed a fake documentary--at least a majority of it is--but it is not fake in the same sense as movies like "This Is Spinal Tap" or "Best in Show" are fake. This is a serious attempt to dupe the viewer into believing they are witnessing actual events with genuine, spontaneous human interaction. Fans of filmmaker Huck Botko will know exactly the type of movie I am talking about.

Having said that, I am actually a big fan of films that manipulate audience perception, and this film does a great job at it. Unless you have some inside information about film legalities and some background on the producers of this film (which I did) this could very well pass as an honest-to-goodness documentary. It's actually quite believable, especially during the first half-hour or so.

As long as you aren't angry or taken aback at the notion of being deliberately misled, then you will probably find this film to be very funny and enjoyable. It's not four-star material, but it is certainly very clever and loaded with some funny, memorable dialogue.