Youth in Revolt

Youth in Revolt - ***1/2

Review:  One of the great joys of movie watching is when a movie completely surprises you and you like it more than you ever thought you would.  That is what "Youth in Revolt" is.

The movie contains the type of dry, quick witted humor you would come to expect from a Michael Cera film.  He hits everything in the film note perfect and turns in an absolutely hilarious performance.  The supporting cast is perfect as well.

The movie concerns Michael Cera's character whom falls in love with a girl from the trailer down the street.  However, Michael Cera's character is not "bad" enough for her and we get the impression that his character has been a quite agreeable person nearly all his life.  This of course has rendered him incapable of being bad.  How is he to win over the woman he loves if he can't be "bad" as she wants?  Well, he creates an alternate persona that can do all these "bad" things for him.  Naturally.

Nevermind the possible paranoid schizophrenia undertones, they are ignored as they should be in this movie in the name of humor.  The rest of the movie concerns itself with the series of bad things the alternate personality does in order to win over his love.

The cast could not have been chosen better and the writing is top notch.  I was not expecting this to be as funny as it was but there were for sure multiple laugh out loud moments.  Definitely worth your time.

Youth In Revolt

Does anyone portray awkward teen geeks better than Michael Cera?

It's hard to imagine the last five years of Hollywood geekery without his naive dreaminess and loose-limbed running, and there are certainly a handful of films that might never have existed without Cera backing them up. From 2007's double-whammy of Superbad and Juno to last year's Paper Heart, Michael Cera has been the heart and soul of the physically incompetent and socially inept everywhere.

Despite a slight lapse in quality with the decidedly below-par Year One, Youth In Revolt sees Cera returning to the niche that he's made his own - that of the sexually-inexperienced teen nerd. Here he plays Nick Twisp, the hero of C.D. Payne's original novel, but there's no mistaking him for anyone other than Michael Cera. And that's always a good thing.

Nick Twisp is 16 years old, and desperately out of touch with his cooler, fitter, sexier peers. While they're partying and chasing girls, he's listening to Frank Sinatra and watching black and white Fellini films.

Nick thinks his summer is taking a turn for the worse when he's forced to relocate to a trailer park for the rest of the season, following a run-in that his Mum's boyfriend (Zach Galifianakis) has with some disgruntled sailors - but in fact it turns out to be the salvation of his sex life. It's at the trailer park that he meets Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday), a free-thinking, intelligent and beautiful girl ,who against all odds takes a shine to Nick's geeky charms.

Except Nick's adolescent brain isn't really ready for this sudden twist, and he knows that Sheeni might disappear from his life as quickly as she arrived. His solution? To create a secondary alter-ego, Francois Dillinger, a fast-talking, chain-smoking French bad boy who does all that things that Nick would never dare.

You don't have to be told that many hilarious adventures ensue, or that Nick turns out to have bitten off more than he can chew. After all, Youth In Revolt has some nicely unique twists, but it's essentially the same old Hollywood story of teenage love, rebellion, and social awkwardness.

Where it succeeds is in its quirky, off-centre view of what it's like to be a clumsy teen geek, and in its talented cast. When the likes of Cera, Galifianakis, Justin Long and Steve Buscemi are sharing the screen you know there wont be any shortage of laughs. Even Ray Liotta proves to be remarkably well-versed in comedy, and Fred Willard almost steals the show as their wide-eyed neighbor Mr. Ferguson.

What might have been a derivative American Pie clone scales impressive heights thanks to Cera's two central performances, and the direction of Miguel Arteta, the man behind 2000's ridiculously inappropriate Chuck & Buck. Youth In Revolt may not boast an intricate plot or subtle character arcs, but any movie that manages to be this funny and this weird is clearly doing something right. And a double-dose of Michael Cera is a welcome thing indeed.

4/5

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Youth in Revolt

Youth in Revolt - Directed by Miguel Arteta, starring Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, and Justin Long - Rated R

No one likes misbehavin' like the Evil Kurgan: "It's better to burn out than to fade away!"



Let me save you a little time with this one: if you don't like Michael Cera, Youth in Revolt is not for you. A number of people have grown tired of Cera's softspoken, lovesick characters and I can completely understand that. He has basically been playing the same character since he gained popularity on Arrested Development. That same character he plays over and over is quite hilarious in my opinion, though. If you hate that character, this film offers a different version of Cera that you might enjoy.

Cera still plays his usual character, but Youth in Revolt allows him to pull double duty and play the unlikely bad boy character. It all starts simply enough, sixteen-year-old Nick Twisp (Cera) spends a week or two in a trailer park where he meets the love of his wife, Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday). But Nick has to return home, leaving Sheeni behind. They come up with a plan, however. Sheeni will find Nick's dad a job in the area and Nick will misbehave enough to be sent to live with his dad so he can be with Sheeni. If you're familiar with Cera's usual characters, though, you know it is not in his nature to be bad. So he creates a mustached, constantly smoking alter ego a la Fight Club called Francois Dillinger.

Dillinger is by far the best part of this film. Just watching Michael Cera smoke a cigarette is kind of funny and when you add arson and some ultra snide backtalking it becomes absolutely hilarious. Cera shows some real range with this one and I found it to be his most impressive performance. He plays Nick by the numbers, but Francois is something entirely new for him. I'm just not sure if the new character is enough to get people on board with this film (and this past weekend's box office showing of $7 million proves this). The truth is I don't think the character is enough to change your mind about Cera. For one thing, Francois may be featured heavily in the previews, but he is not in the film as much as you would think.

Michael Cera isn't the only person in the film, though. Portia Doubleday does a good job as the love interest and the rest of the cast is rounded out by some very good actors including Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta, Fred Willard, M. Emmet Walsh, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Long. The only problem is that these actors are all in what could best be described as cameo roles. I wouldn't say that they are wasted, but it would have been nice to see a few more scenes with Buscemi. The supporting actor that stood out most to me, though, was Adhir Kalyan as Vijay, Nick's new friend. He made a perfect partner in crime with Cera.

The film also offers some quirky style as well that was kind of unnecessary, but still a bit amusing. During a couple of road trips (and during the credits), different styles of animation are used. It added a little something to the movie, I suppose, but I could have done without it.

Youth in Revolt isn't a very stylish film, but there is a definite tone and that tone is quite dark. The nihilistic characters left me with a feeling akin to Observe and Report. Even the good Cera character seems to be devoid of hope. He mopes around with a "woe is me" kind of attitude and, aside from a few passive aggressive comments, he is indifferent to the men his mom shacks up with. Sheeni is basically the same, as she lives as apart from her extremely religious parents as possible. It just seems like everyone is indifferent to everyone else. But that's the perfect environment for Francois to inhabit.

That's really all there is to say on this one. I can't stress enough that this film hinges completely on Michael Cera. I've found him funny in nearly everything he has done (he even has a couple of funny moments in last year's terrible Year One) and with this I am officially a Michael Cera fan. I just hope his future characters are more like Francois Dillinger and less like Nick Twisp.

Eric Harris - www.canneltoncritic.com

Youth in Revolt

Youth in Revolt certainly smells like teen spirit.
While his trailer trash parents teeter on the edge of divorce, Nick Twisp sets his sights on dream girl Sheeni Saunders, hoping that she'll be the one to take away his virginity.

I must admit this one has probably been marketed all wrong. Looking at the movie poster you would honestly think this was a romantic teen comedy when in fact its not entirely all that. Don't be expecting a 'Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist' as this is more of a 'Catcher in the Rye' type film.

Right from the beginning I was convinced we had another stereotypical teen Rom-Com with Michael Cera in it, but after ten or so minutes that soon became a misperception. Michael Cera's character (Nick Twisp) probably has more depth to any other character he has played before. Nick Twisp chases after his first love and will certainly go to great lengths for her, including travelling across America and leaving a trail of devastation in his way. To do this, Nick creates his alter-ego 'Francois Dillinger' ,an alternative persona to help him become more "bad" and upfront with Sheeni. So infact Cera acts out the role of two people here, as the Francois part of his persona really does come across to you as a separate person altogether. He is everything Twisp is not; confident, forthcoming, refined and charismatic. Very cleverly, when Twisp is unable to cope with any situation he brings in trusty Francois to deal with it in his stylish and cool way. While this is going on Nick's parents (Steve Buscemi & Jean Smart) are going through a divorce separation and start living irresponsible lives, making them look highly hypocritical and inadequate parents.

As well as Cera's excellent as always performance, Portia Doubleday puts in a good performance with her first major leading role as the object of Nick's desire, Sheeni Saunders. Zach Galifianakis and Ray Liotta step in as highly comical supporting cast, playing short-term lovers of Nick's insecure mother who goes from one man to another.

Although this film isn’t profound and groundbreaking, it does have something ‘new’ to bring to the table for this genre of film. It’s more about the pains and hormones of growing up rather than an actual physical journey. It documents how teenage years are often filled with paranoia and isolation and through all that, it’s comforting to know there's always a reason to live and everyone goes a little 'crazy' sometimes. I think this is where the J.D Salinger 'Catcher in the Rye' comparisons are coming from and that isn’t too far away from the truth. The Holden Caulfield character abandons School and runs away, going awol and off the rails at the same time, where as Twisp goes off the rails and actually falls in love.

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Youth In Revolt

This movie kind of charmed me and got on my nerves at the same time. But while the ratio was tipped toward the latter at first, as the movie progressed it got steadily more creative, energetic and interesting, and as a consequence I think I have more good things to say about it then bad. There are a lot of usings of the word pretentious in regards to this movie and I'm not really going to argue with that. Teenage characters idolize the French New Wave, animated sequences appear entirely superfluously and it uses long, thesaurus worthy words in casual conversation and not in a relatable Tarantino kind of way. But maybe its because I can make peace with pretentious above many other failings, or maybe because this its a confidently executed, often hilarious movie that is a teen comedy with almost an overflow of ideas, I don't think I've ever said that before, that for me was good enough to overcome indie familiarity.

The film follows virginal teen Michael Cera attempting to woo the awesomely named actress Portia Doubleday in increasingly unhinged and sociopathic ways. That's pretty much all the plot on offer, and there's some solid support from a variety of famous names and strong character actors. Zach Galifinakis, Ray Liotta, Steve Buscemi, Jean Smart and Fred Willard turn in nice supporting performances. Justin Long is OK playing a stoner brother, but the character feels a little stock for this kind of thing and serves no real purpose to it. Doubleday, as much as this movie wouldn't like you to think, is pretty much your stock manic pixie dream girl (A movie blogger term to mean ridiculously perfect and rut-busting object of desire). That's all the movie tells us about her and almost all that matters.

So, to the Cera issue. There has been a backlash against him, saying that he's a little one-note and plays the same character in everything. I wasn't disagreeing. He created a schtick far too specific and over-used, but he has worn some of my cynicism away in this movie. The kid can act, and at times here, delivers a really excellent performance. Only at times mind you. The central Nick character is Cera stock and trade, and for the first half hour he was just doing what he always did, but once the alter-ego Francois was introduced (don't ask) Cera did something he'd never done before. He played confidence! It was crazy. Even crazier, he found a new lease of life as Francois, showing range and even talent beyond what we are familiar with, and if all's fair his work in Youth and Revolt should buy him back a fair amount of support. After this I've gone from believing him to be a flavor of the month to someone I could see being around for a while.

I enjoyed the writing, but I can see why people would not. Is very written, and there's an elitism amongst the creativity, but the very fact that its central point that young love is in fact ridiculous in its very nature is for me a subtly cynical approach to romance. Its not a masterpiece, but it is constantly trying to be something and the energy more then compensates for the occasional cheap joke or misfiring logic. Director Miguel Arteta also gives a great account of himself and despite mediocre work prior to this film, he's found a verve of some sort here. A flawed but funny in its design, a relatively unique teen movie worth seeing.

Rating: 7/10

Cera finally breaks the George Michael mold

Oh Arrested Development, how I loved thee. And yes, I was ecstatic when Michael Cera became a breakout star from the show after his awkward/naive George Michael role. Unfortunately, this had started to wear thin after he more-or-less reprised this role over and over again, with varying degrees of success. So along comes Youth in Revolt, which on the outset looks like Michael Cera playing George Michael again. Lo and behold, not only is Youth in Revolt hilarious, its also by far Cera's most diverse role yet.

Youth in Revolt is about Nick Twisp. His mother has a boorish boyfriend Jerry whom Nick hates, and his father chases bimbos despite his lack of a job. When Jerry is on the run from some Russian sailors, the family goes up to a trailer park to lay low, where Nick meets Sheeni Saunders, who may well be the entire alternative/hipster scene wrapped up. She likes old music, French cinema and strange robot poetry. Eventually, the two start making out and such, but just as love blossoms, its back home for Nick.

Of course, Nick won't let his "true love" get away that easy, and hatches a diabolical scheme to be back with her. To do so, he needs to break his nice-guy frame, doing so by inventing the mental persona Francois Dillinger. Francois is easily the best part of the film, also played by Cera but manifesting himself physically with Nick. Its some kind of Fight Club-ish thing going on, but the way its presented definitely feels fresh.

This extra character is what puts Cera over the top. While Nick may be his standard character for the most part, Francois is a side of Cera not seen yet, very confident and moreover badass. Although part of me doubts Cera was able to grow that moustache himself. The Francois scenes are definitely the best of the film, and worth the price of admission alone.

What would a comedy like this be without wacky supporting characters? This is where the movie is more hit-and-miss. Portia Doubleday is very serviceable as the idol of Nick's affection, and any guy who says he didn't majorly crush on a girl like that is clearly lying. Sure, her character is perhaps written as slightly to hipster to appease the fanbase, but the relation is by all means believable.

Jean Smart stands out among the supporters as Nick's unsympathetic mother, as does Fred Willard as a very sympathetic teacher. Steve Buscemi and Zach Galifinakis get unfortunately little to do as Nick's father and his mother's boyfriend respectively. Ray Liotta is excellently used as an antagonistic cop. However, Justin Long comes across perhaps just a little too creepy as Sheeni's stoner brother, and her sweater-wearing boyfriend is simply far too much of a douche to be anything but a cliché.

But whats important is that the movie is outright hilarious. Sure, there's better coming-of-age stories out there, but this one takes the cake in terms of simply making me laugh. A lot was in the trailer, but there's still more here, and Youth in Revolt is a must-see for fans of the genre.

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Vincent Snavely