They were trying to go for a lot in Miguel Artera's Youth In Revolt (2009) and ultimately landed on nothing. It is a film about the angst of growing up and getting laid (Is that really just a teenage problem?). My love affair with Michael Cera may also be wearing thin as his charm and nerdiness aren't enough to save this movie.
Cera plays a dual role in Youth In Revolt, he plays Nick Twisp and his alter french ego Francois Dillinger. Twisp is a loner, and in love with a girl who is mysterious, flirty and seductive. Twisp has a hard time wrestling with keeping the girl and to do this he invents his alter ego to help him be "bad" enough to impress her.
Lets start with the story itself. It tried to be fresh by inventing this alter ego and really having him go off the deep end, but in the end felt forced and ultimately unbelievable. There was no real flow to the film, it seemed to go from one scene to the next without taking into account the little moments of how they got there. And I know this is a movie about youth and the truths in young adulthood as compared to those adults in the film, but the writer and director could not have made more one dimensional adults. Everyone of them from Nicks mother to Sheeni's Christian Parents to the hippy next door neighbor are painted with a very broad and ugly brush.
Maybe the worst thing about Youth In Revolt is that its comic moments are at best scattered. I wouldn't say this is an unfunny film, but for it to work it really needed a lot more laughs. It to often tries to balance the line between absurd and realistic and to be honest that line doesn't really exist.
None of the performances were bad for what was given. I particularly liked Portia Doubleday as Sheeni, the girl of Nick Twisp's desires. Without her intrinsic charm and allure I wouldn't be able to really hang my hat on anything in this film. Then there is Cera, who is not bad here, in fact if this film had been his first people might be talking about his greatness, but other than when he is his alter ego, we have seen this same thing done much better by Cera several times before. It is kind of sad because I love Cera, I love his comedy styling but he really needs to come up with something else soon or he is going to lose all his fan base. There are certain comedy actors that can do the same thing over and over again (Woody Allen, Ricky Gervais) and it never feel stale but for some reason it doesn't work with Cera. He needs to try to find some more depth and emotion.
Overall I say Youth In Revolt is an absolute skip. There is no nostalgic feelings of youth you will come away from watching this movie, it doesn't shine any new light on what it means to be young in America, instead you may be left wondering what is the point. Part of me wants to yell at the characters in this film and say you are only 17 you will get over this chick, and probably need and want to find someone new, not really worth blowing up buildings for.
**
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