YOUTH IN REVOLT Review


I have been impressed with Michael Ceras choices after his success in 'Arrested Development. He was not the cast member I would have initially picked to have one of the bigger movie careers, but with 'Superbad', 'Juno', 'Nick and Norah' and now this little gem, Cera has proven himself the go-to-guy for awkaward teen angst. He plays the role so well and has found several ways to go about portraying this. Especially here where he does double duty as both Nick Twisp and Francois Dillinger. nick is the scared, awkward teenage boy and Francois is the little voice inside his head that executes what Nick could never imagine actually going through with. Cera is hilarious to watch as he goes through an absurd amount of trouble to be with a girl, who, in her own right never seems to care too much for Nick but is never not happy to see him when he does manage to show up. It is a weird relationship throughout the film, but we understand Nicks desperation's in that he is after that one thing Cera is always after-a relationship with real meaning, not just the sex. It is outlandish at parts and to be completely honest I was a little shocked at how far they took it, but that didn't stop me from laughing. When they did go that extra, unexpected mile with a joke, it usually paid off. Not to mention a pretty great supporting cast-from Zach Galifianakis to Steve Buscemi, Fred Willard and Justin Long, I was constantly laughing at the little tid bits each actor threw in. If I were to complain about the film it would be that the great Ari Gaynor was criminally under-used and that even though the film had its fair share of exciting scenes it never really took off in a way I expected it too. For what this movie was saying, the stakes never seemed to be higher than Nick getting caught by Sheeni's parents. It stayed on a mountain-less plain, there was no build-up, climax or satisfying denouement, it just seemed to go for a while until it found a good place to stop. No, 'Youth in Revolt' never reached the peak of my expectations its trailer gave me, but it was not a complete disappointment in any sense. I can only hope that Ceras upcoming 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World' delivers what its trailer promises.

1 comment:

  1. OMG have you read the book!?! It's absolutely amazing! And there are several book sequels..haven't read them but hear they're quite entertaining as well.

    I am on the fence about seeing this movie. All too often movies ruin books for me, and I haven't decided if I want to take the chance on this one :)

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