Summary
Incoming, Netflix’s terrible middle-school version ofSuperbad, is a timely reminder to check out Seth Rogen’s awesome middle-school version ofSuperbadfrom 2019.Incomingis about four freshmen attending their first high school party and trying to get in with the cool kids. The film marks the feature-length directorial debut of brothers Dave and John Chernin, who cut their teeth as writers onIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. ButIncomingis nowhere near as funny as aSuperbad-esque teen comedy from two of the minds behindIt’s Always Sunnysounds.
It seemed as thoughIncominghad everything going for it: two writers fromIt’s Always Sunnyat the helm, “Sweet Dee” herself Kaitlin Olson in a supporting role, and financial backing from Netflix to bring their wildest gag ideas to life. But unfortunately, when the movie was released into the streaming library of Netflix on August 23, it arrived as one of the biggest disappointments of the year.The comparisons toSuperbaddidn’t do the movie any favors, because drawing parallels with one of the greatest comedies ever made just highlights how bad it is.
How Netflix’s Incoming Movie Imitates Superbad
Incomingis little more than a third-rate knockoff ofSuperbad. Much likeSuperbad,Incomingchronicles the debauched antics of a bunch of immature kids trying to get in with the popular crowd by attending a high school party. The only difference is thatSuperbad’s Seth and Evan are seniors attending the very last party of their high school careers, whereasIncoming’s cast of characters, Benj, Eddie, Connor, and Koosh, are all freshmen attending their very first high school party. That difference is pretty negligible. Once they get to the party, they’re basically the same movie.
Superbadis a much smarter and sweeter movie thanIncoming.Superbadhas its fair share of crass humor, like when Seth gets period blood on his leg or when Evan tries and fails to knock back a full bottle of liquor, but it’s not just crassness for the sake of crassness; it’s all rooted in story and character. The crass humor inIncoming, like when the most popular girl in school drunkenly defecates all over the interior of a car, is the definition of crassness for crassness’ sake. Andit doesn’t have the underlying vulnerability ofSuperbad.
Incoming Is A Terrific Reminder To Watch Seth Rogen’s 2019 Good Boys Movie
Good Boys is a much better version of what Incoming wants to achieve
The only thing thatseparatesIncomingfromSuperbadis that the boys are a couple of years younger. Butthe writing team behindSuperbad, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, already produced their own younger version ofSuperbadwith 2019’sGood Boys.Good Boyswas directed byNo Hard Feelings’ Gene Stupnitsky from a script he wrote with Lee Eisenberg, with whom he wrote several episodes ofThe Office, including season 4, episode 13, “Dinner Party.”Good Boysstars Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, and Brady Noon as three eighth-graders who skip school to prepare for their first boy-girl party.
Anyone who was disappointed withIncoming– or even anyone who’s considering givingIncominga watch – should check outGood Boysinstead.Good Boyshas just as much gross-out shock humor asIncoming, butit also has the heart thatIncominglacks. The gimmick of seeing kids doing and saying things that the ratings board deems them too young for is enough to get viewers into the movie. But it’s the endearing friendship between these three boys and the insecurities they’re afraid to face that carry the movie to the finish line.
88%
22%
Good Boys
81%
NeitherIncomingnorGood Boysmanaged to achieve the universal critical acclaim met bySuperbad, butGood Boyscame much, much closer thanIncoming. WhenSuperbadarrived, it was a breath of fresh air. It had all the lewd teenage antics ofAmerican Pie, but it also had an underlying sweetness. It sets itself up as a movie about two teenage boys trying to get laid, but it’s really about their separation anxiety as they’re about to head off to different colleges. Critics praised it as one ofthe best comedies ever made.
Superbadearned an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%, the kind of rating awarded to Best Picture nominees.Incoming, on the other hand, has an abysmal “rotten” score of 22%.Superbad’s score indicates near-universal acclaim, whereasIncoming’s score indicates near-universal panning.Good Boyscame a lot closer toSuperbad’s score with a “fresh” rating of 81%. It didn’t quite reachSuperbad’s heights, but it’s still a very impressive score for a comedy.
Cast
Written and directed by Gene Stupnitsky, with writing help from Lee Eisenberg, Good Boys is a Comedy starring Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon, and Keith L. Williams. The 2019 film follows three sixth-graders that end up in a series of situations while trying to attend a party.
