Youth in Revolt

Michael Cera is a great actor, and this movie is no different. Youth in Revolt is more subtle than you would think, given the title and premise.

Nick is a 16 year old with not many friends, a screwed up family, and worst of all, he is a virgin. Upon meeting Sheeni, he falls in love with her instantly, and will do anything to be with her. This involves creating an alter ego, and becoming an outlaw.

My only real complaint is that it seemed to me that they put just enough F-words in this to get it rated R. The swearing could have been cut down to make this PG-13, to appeal to a broader audience.

This is a simple teen comedy, but adults will like it too, it's very well written with a good plot, good actors that fit their characters, and plenty of laughs. Check it out, you won't regret it.

Nothing is worse than knowing that you have met the girl of your dreams only to find out she has a boyfriend that is so unbelievably superior to you that you have no chance to win her over. That is exactly what happens to Nick Twisp (Michael Cera), but instead of meekly accepting his fate like a good little nerd he decides to fight back by creating a persona his French-loving would-be girlfriend cannot resist, Francois Dillinger. Francois appears periodically throughout the film to offer advice and, more often, take control of the situation by flagrantly defying authority or bringing his bad boy machismo into play.

I imagine Francois is what every stock French resistance fighter was like when he was sixteen with no war to fight; well dressed in gleaming white slacks and sandals, sporting a casual-looking button down shirt, but with a thin mustache and cigarette to add mystery and mystique. The very image of Francois makes me laugh. This also happens to be the only movie where parents are the unknowing consumers of illicit narcotics and it is actually funny.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this film, laughed throughout in fact, but as a whole I have to be critical. Including in comparison to other films similar to its nature and when it comes to films involving teens and sex, there are many to choose from. It's been a done a million times, so it's nice to see refreshing and moderately realistic scenario and character interaction, like that of "Superbad" or "Juno". The cast, for one thing is damn amazing. There are many excellent actors, like Steve Buscemi and Ray Liotta, both did wonderfully. Zack Galifianakis and Justin Long were very well into their characters and I loved them on screen. A lot of the characters are pretty memorable, an aspect I enjoyed. I enjoyed seeing the character interaction which is the key to film-making at the base of it all. But Michael Cera as the awkward-nobody is beyond overdone. Sorry, but at this point I've seen too many times. Only when he's donning the Francois persona do I admire his performance and really embrace him as a character.

Not to mention the whole plot at a glance makes his character seem rather pathetic really. He steals cars, travels hundreds of miles, sabotages the girl's education, among many other ridiculous things all for one girl who half the time doesn't really seem to care about him that much. It's a love story I just can't connect with despite my attempts to. So check this one out for some crude laughs but not a masterpiece by any means.

C+

"Youth in Revolt" is original. It's not quite like any "teen movie" I've ever seen. Just as its source material offered a fresh twist to the dork-meets-girl scenario in ink, the film offers the twist on screen.

"Youth in Revolt" centers on unconventional teenage rebels; these aren't the hoodlums you'd expect to see smoking pot on street corners. In fact, these characters are essentially adults trapped in awkward teenage frames. They have sophisticated tastes and profound desires, but they also carry themselves clumsily and desperately try to shed their virginity. This mature immaturity makes both Nick (Cera) and Sheeni (Doubleday), along with a number of minor characters they meet throughout the film, compelling and unique human beings.

As Nick Twisp, Michael Cera carries the film. His awkwardly clever narration provides for fairly consistent laughter, and his quest for Sheeni's heart puts him through a dramatic ringer. As good as Cera is as lovable loser Nick, nothing can prepare the audience for his work as Twisp's alter-ego: Francois Dillinger. Dillinger is the anti-Nick, which also makes him the anti-Michael Cera, but Cera pulls off his boldness and iron will hilariously. Cera's dual performance keeps the film fresh when it begins to get a little dull.

As Sheeni, the primary love interest, Portia Doubleday concocts an unconventional leading lady. She seems to embody every characteristic of the female teenager at the same time, and it's not hard to see why Nick would idolize her.

The film focuses on Cera and Doubleday for the most part, and their relationship is strange, and therefore refreshing. Clichés are avoided, unexpected roadblocks pop up, and teenage love rears its ugly, fascinating face. The romance seems real, as well as funny.

When 'Youth in Revolt" turns its focus away from the youths, it's hit-or-miss. Jean Smart is fine as Cera's aloof mother, but the character itself is one-dimensional and strangely conventional for such a nonconformist movie. Steve Buscemi is fine as the father, but he's not given much to do. The standouts among the supporting players include Fred Willard as an immigrant-phile, Justin Long as Sheeni's stoner brother, Mary Kay Place as Sheeni's Bible-wielding mother, and the two unknowns who portray Nick's friends, Lefty and BJ.

Aside from a couple of intentionally quirky animated sequences and one or two clichéd stock characters, "Youth in Revolt" plays by its own rules, and it wins marvelously.

When you hear that Michael Cera will be playing yet another nerdy virginal dweeb, your first reaction is likely to include a couple of eyerolls and other dismissive motions. Here he plays an effete high schooler named Nick Twisp who thinks he's found the girl of his dreams during a lakefront vacation. Only to get the girl he needs to man up and become more dangerous, so he invents a subpersona named Francois, a dashing lad full of derring-do. This black comedy has plenty of laughs amid a wacky, absurdist atmosphere.

Nick Twisp. Great name for a fictional character; terrible name for a real person, I would think. Nick is into Frank Sinatra, his computer, and classic prose; he lives with his trailer-trash mom (Jean Smart) and her ne'er-do-well current boyfriend (played with laid-back zeal by Zach Galifianakis). Nick is as stammery as any other Michael Cera character, and his approach to the fairer sex is, unsurprisingly, ineffective.

Things look up when he meets neighbor Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday, who is both enigmatic and ebullient as Sheeni), who's gorgeous and fun to be with. It's not long before Nick decides Sheeni's the one for him. But it's quickly revealed that Sheeni already has a boyfriend, a real manly man named Trent. How can anyone played by Michael Cera compete with a guy named Trent? Easy – by inventing an alter ego that gives voice to his rampaging id, a rogueish cad named Francois (because Sheeni loves French things). Francois allows Nick to do and say things that he'd never otherwise say.

And that's when things really take off. The pleasure of this movie is twofold. First, Cera's delivery and the script by Gustin Nash go together like Forrest Gump and Jenny. The jokes are often laugh-out-loud quality, and it's at least partly due to Cera's sometimes-mumbled, frightened-rabbit replies. His funny lines are played straight, and somehow it works. Second, the absurd escalating situations in which Nick finds himself – as a result of his own actions, it should be noted – are funny the same way Mr. Creosote's predicament was funny in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. The stuff Nick does at the behest of Francois to win Sheemi's heart are hilarious yet unlikely – and yet they ring true nonetheless.

It also helps that Cera is supported by some damn funny actors: Galifianakis is a hoot in a somewhat dark role; Steve Buscemi plays Nick's dad with vulgar intensity (as if he were a domesticated version of Mr. Pink); Justin Long, of all people, is Sheeni's stoner older brother; M. Emmett Walsh (who's perhaps a tad too old to be the father of a teen) is Sheeni's dad; Mary Kay Place is the mom; Smart as Nick's mom; and Adhir Kalyan as a fellow student who helps Nick in his quest for Sheeni. Oh, and Fred Willard as a neighbor who likes to save illegal immigrants from the INS.

I know the word "quirky" is overused for oddball comedies today, particularly those starring Michael Cera (who, if he plays another Nick, may as well dot his face with bloodied pieces of tissue paper), but this one outquirks most of them. Even with all the madness zooming around this film, at the heart of things is the love between a girl and a boy and the lengths either will go to protect that bond. This movie should appeal to those who like offbeat romances.