America seems to be cooling to the hilarious young man that is Michael Cera. On "Arrested Development" he seemed to reinvent the very notion of the awkward teen. But after seeing variations on the same character in "Juno," "Superbad," and the unbearable "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist," people know what to expect and they're starting to tire of it. I'm a bit on the fence though. I would love to see Cera play George Michael once again for an "Arrested Development" movie, and then maybe see him channel the character once more for a good indie comedy just to say goodbye. In the meantime, I look forward to him playing a different set of roles, as I see a lot of potential and range in him. I would love to see Cera play an unlikable asshole. I'm very excited to see how he fares as the title role in Edgar Wright's "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World." Cera has a film coming out this fall called "Youth in Revolt." I knew absolutely nothing about this film, nor its tone. A friend of mine saw this a few weeks ago. He wrote up a review and submitted to Aint It Cool News. They never posted it however, so he sent it my way and after reading it, I thought I'd post it here for you all to read as well. I don't think I'm violating any rules or embargoes by putting this online. I'm even protecting my friend's identity. Hope you all enjoy.
-Pomatto
Youth In Reviolt
The film is a sort of mixed bag. We have the typical story of a youth attempting to transition into adulthood, though of course he finds no easier recourse for achieving this apart from getting laid. He meets a girl, falls in love and becomes intent on romance. The film follows his growth into the character he thinks will best woo the object of his affections.
Michael Cera plays this impossible, youthful – and virginal – aesthete called Nick Twisp who is marooned with a dysfunctional family in Berkeley/Oakland. After his mother’s boyfriend gyps a group of naval officers, the motley crew embarks on a claymated journey to a trailer in the woods, where he meets the equally snobbish Sheeni (Portia Doubleday), who more or less shares his lonely despair, and quickly falls in love. The two share a passion for literary culture, but Sheeni, with her posters of JP Belmondo, fantasizes about an eventual French lover – though she is dating some d-bag named Trent.
To meet her romantic ideal of a manly man, Nick creates for himself a second personality: Francois Dillinger, a pastiche of a French tough-guy anti-hero, chain-smoking, snappily dressed and of few words, most of them obscene. Francois, assuming the sort of Tyler Durden role, encourages Nick to act out in order to get the girl. The film follows Nick/Francois on the path to wooing Sheeni.
It was nice to see a romantic comedy aim for something so absurd and capitalize on the (often awkward) personae of its actors. The humor is quirky and generally on the mark, though there was often a lot of laughter at moments that I did not think were intended to be funny, as well as moments where the audience was expected to laugh and there was nary a chuckle. Some standout scenes include the first introduction of Francois to Nick’s mother, Francois and Nick wreaking havoc in Berkeley and – most potent of all – the impeccable sequence wherein Nick attempts to fake his own death.
However, there are several elements of the film which stumble or flat-out fail. Firstly, Ms. Doubleday’s performance is simply awful, though this is no indication of her acting ability as much as it is a symptom of the mostly unlikable character she is portraying. Unlike Nick, Sheeni’s snobbish demeanor feels coquettish, unfair and annoying; at one point she chides Nick for being a virgin, but has herself only had one sexual experience. While Nick’s interest in literature seems deep-seeded and meaningful to his character, her love for French culture feels affected and false, serving no character development.
The supporting cast, though impressive, is similarly, almost startlingly, misused. Jean Smart plays a whorish, white trash mom who lives on the child support payments from ex-husband Steve Buscemi and the kindness of her boyfriends, played by Zack G and Ray Liotta. Smart has enough screen time to make her character work well enough, but the remaining supporting cast appears only briefly and often meaninglessly (though both Fred Willard and Justin Long drawing huge laughs in their respective short screen times).
It’s also impossible to review this film without making mention of a scene involving psychedelic mushrooms. This sequence, while book-ended by two very funny gags (courtesy of Francois, as well as the helpful sexual advice of thankfully underused side-character Lefty), sort of struggles along, causing dim-witted fits of laughter among only the most dim-witted of audience members at the simple presence of psychedelic mushrooms.
Finally, there is the point of Michael Cera. On one hand, with Nick, he plays the same character we have come to expect – a gawky, nerdish type. Francois, however, is an interesting case; we don’t really ever feel that he is supposed to be a completely independent character from Nick, but we get the impression that he is the character Nick imagines Sheeni wants. So it is still Michael Cera playing his gawky, nerdish type, only this time there is a subtle shift in the performance worth noticing. This is probably not enough to distract anyone critical or bored with a typical Cera performance, but it was slightly refreshing to this viewer.
The film screened tonight was a work print, which was, as anyone who has attended an advanced screening can attest, introduced as an unfinished version. However, it seemed to me to be pretty much complete, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the final cut of the film. In a brief group afterward, I learned that there potentially exists a different version of the ending, which I can only hope does not see the light of day. Though there are a few dragging moments, the ending of the film provides a perfect cap to the previous events of the 110-ish minute runtime, pulling us back into reality.
It will be interesting to see how this film is marketed in the coming months; I imagine it might make a really good trailer, but find difficulty in TV spots, due to its slightly weird plot devices. The film, which is absolutely deserving of an R-rating, might be too light for older audiences, but too sophisticated or intellectual for the young’ns. Overall, despite its occasionally darker depiction of teenage angst, Youth in Revoltis recommended to fans of lighter-fare comedies or fans of Michael Cera.
-Proust
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