Movie Review: YOUTH IN REVOLT
We’ve all seen Michael Cera in a Michael Cera film and we all know he always seems to play Michael Cera. In his new film, Youth in Revolt, Cera once again plays himself, but with a twist. His character creates a bad boy alter ego to lead him through the process of being with the girl he loves. It is this bad boy persona that we have not really seen Cera do before.
No matter how many times I’ve seen Cera play that awkward soft spoken funny character, I always get a kick out of it. There’s no doubt the guy is funny, but in my opinion Youth in Revolt is definitely his best film to date. I’m sure that Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World will blow it away when it is released, but as of right now Youth in Revolt is it. It was just really fun to see Michael Cera interacting with himself.
Youth in Revolt had me laughing from beginning to end. There were times where my stomach hurt due to the excessive amount laughing that I endured. Just because I laughed doesn’t mean you will, though. There were people at the screening I was at that weren’t really laughing at all. Why? I don’t know - I thought the film was hilarious. I guess if you're sick and tired of Michael Cera then you won’t find it that funny.
The film was fun, smart and incredibly witty. It is based of the book of the same name by C.D. Payne. Cera plays the lead character Nick Twisp, a unique teenager who falls head over heels for a beautiful, free-spirited girl named Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) while he is on a little family vacation. After the vacation ends it becomes difficult for Twisp to keep the relationship going due to the distance between his home and hers. On top of that there is a jealous ex-boyfriend that enters the picture. Sheeni encourages Nick to do whatever it takes to get back to her so that they can be together. So Nick creates a bad boy alter ego named Francois, who leads him through several dastardly deeds, creating a path of destruction that have very heavy consequences, as he tries to be with the girl of his dreams.
The trailer for this film is a bit misleading. It leads you to believe that Nick has to be bad to get the girl, because that's what she likes in a guy. That’s not it at all; Nick gets the girl without the badness. Once he has her, he has to be bad to be able to stay with her.
The screenwriter of the film did a great job adapting the book into script form. The book that it’s based on is pretty long, they weren’t able to get everything from the book into the film but it does a great job capturing the essence of the book and its characters.
The film has a freakin' awesome cast of actors that includes Jean Smart, Steve Buscemi, Zach Galifianakis, Fred Willard, Justin Long, and Ray Liotta. The roles they have aren’t really that big, but they are hilarious when they’re up on screen. I love it when Liotta does comedy; he should do a lot more of them.
The film is a dark fun comedic adventure that is full of great memorable moments, and a pretty good amount of dialogue that is definitely quotable. I had a great time watching the film, and it’s something I would definitely love to see again. I highly recommend you go check this film out when it comes to a theater near you. It’s definitely a great date movie.
Youth In Revolt opens everywhere today.
If you've seen YOUTH IN REVOLT tell us what you thought of the movie.