It’s the latest sex comedy, about a night in the life of modern teenage America.

In the tradition of movies from “American Graffiti” to “American Pie,” “Superbad” seeks to find the funny in the pathos of adolescent desperation. Coming-of-age continues to mean aching to get laid, to get wasted and the love/hate bond between buddies. In this lesser variation, with shoddy production values and mostly unfamiliar actors, the humor comes more out of the mercilessness and raunchiness of the gags than their wit.