Superbad

The end result of a script begun by Seth Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg when the pair were 13, Superbad was meant to star Rogen as the more outgoing half of a pair of high-school misfits. With three weeks left in the school year, the two inseparable friends face all manner of unfinished business before college plans drive them apart—most urgently, the hoped-for consummation of their respective crushes. By the time financing came through for the project (with Apatow producing), Rogen had aged out of the lead role, but the two antiheroes retain the names “Seth” and “Evan.” Borrowing from American Graffiti, Dazed and Confused, and American Pie but staking its own claim in the coming-of-age sweepstakes, Superbad offered important career stepping stones for stars Michael Cera and Jonah Hill and marked the feature-film debuts of Emma Stone and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (as “McLovin”).