Youth in Revolt Movie Review

Youth in Revolt is director Miguel Arteta’s adaptation of C.D. Payne’s 1993 novel wherein the main character is aged two years and encompasses the first three volumes in the original six-book series. The novels are presented as Nick’s journals wherein readers are taken into the world of a young boy’s discoveries of maturity from recurring erections and sexual ideas. Fairly enough, the film opens with a teaser of a masturbation session to jumpstart the pornographic ideas of the main protagonist.

The film revolves on the life of high school geek Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) who’s eager to enter manhood and lose his virginity to a hot young woman soon. Nick is a product of a broken family as his father (Steve Buscemi) has remarried a woman (Ari Graynor) way younger than him. This leaves him with no choice but to live with his mom (Jean Smart) and her latest boyfriend Jerry (Zach Galifianakis) in Portland. However due to some bad turn of fate, Jerry gets into trouble with some navy officers forcing the family of three to hide out in a trailer park on a lake.

In this unexpected turn of event, Nick meets the girl of his dreams, smart and sexy Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday). He instantly falls madly in love with the Jean-Paul Belmondo obsessed girl whose currently living with her overly religious parents (M. Emmett Walsh, Mary Kay Place) and drug addicted brother (Justin Long). But then the happy moments together had to come to an end when it was time for both to move back to their homes. Desperate to get laid and continue their romance, the duo formulate a plan to kick Nick out from his mother’s home, transfer his father’s job closer to her, and move in with his dad. In order to get away from his mother’s house, he needs to do evil things. In order to do so, Nick creates an evil alter-ego Francois Dillinger to help him create misdeeds.

Michael Cera gets the much-needed boost up in this film after his appearance in “Arrested Development”. Though he is still playing the typical character we’re used to seeing from him, “Youth In Revolt” allows him to explore a different side we rarely see from the actor. Thanks to his alter-ego we are offered a view of the actor’s edge as a menacing dude out to spread evil works. It’s fun to watch Nick transform from the geek in the beginning with no self-confidence at all to the evil yet proud guy in the end.

Cera is perfectly suited for the role as his comic abilities match up perfectly to the requirements from the film. Aside from this, the actor is able to extend his abilities as he plays two characters with entirely different personalities for the film. Interestingly, his character Francois is far off from the usual Cera we had all been used to. It’s nice to finally see Cera explore other roles. This may be a good sign for him in the coming years.

The film’s comic humor is derived not only from Cera but from the eccentric supporting cast as well. The interactions and relationships between Nick and the people around him are fairly amusing. One of the strangest and yet funniest among them is his connection with his middle-aged mother. His oversexed mom is clearly tired of her son-raising duties. Another amusing relationship is the scenes between Nick and his alter-ego Francois.