Be Bad!

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this film, laughed throughout in fact, but as a whole I have to be critical. Including in comparison to other films similar to its nature and when it comes to films involving teens and sex, there are many to choose from. It's been a done a million times, so it's nice to see refreshing and moderately realistic scenario and character interaction, like that of "Superbad" or "Juno". The cast, for one thing is damn amazing. There are many excellent actors, like Steve Buscemi and Ray Liotta, both did wonderfully. Zack Galifianakis and Justin Long were very well into their characters and I loved them on screen. A lot of the characters are pretty memorable, an aspect I enjoyed. I enjoyed seeing the character interaction which is the key to film-making at the base of it all. But Michael Cera as the awkward-nobody is beyond overdone. Sorry, but at this point I've seen too many times. Only when he's donning the Francois persona do I admire his performance and really embrace him as a character.

Not to mention the whole plot at a glance makes his character seem rather pathetic really. He steals cars, travels hundreds of miles, sabotages the girl's education, among many other ridiculous things all for one girl who half the time doesn't really seem to care about him that much. It's a love story I just can't connect with despite my attempts to. So check this one out for some crude laughs but not a masterpiece by any means.

C+

When you hear that Michael Cera will be playing yet another nerdy virginal dweeb, your first reaction is likely to include a couple of eyerolls and other dismissive motions. Here he plays an effete high schooler named Nick Twisp who thinks he's found the girl of his dreams during a lakefront vacation. Only to get the girl he needs to man up and become more dangerous, so he invents a subpersona named Francois, a dashing lad full of derring-do. This black comedy has plenty of laughs amid a wacky, absurdist atmosphere.

Nick Twisp. Great name for a fictional character; terrible name for a real person, I would think. Nick is into Frank Sinatra, his computer, and classic prose; he lives with his trailer-trash mom (Jean Smart) and her ne'er-do-well current boyfriend (played with laid-back zeal by Zach Galifianakis). Nick is as stammery as any other Michael Cera character, and his approach to the fairer sex is, unsurprisingly, ineffective.

Things look up when he meets neighbor Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday, who is both enigmatic and ebullient as Sheeni), who's gorgeous and fun to be with. It's not long before Nick decides Sheeni's the one for him. But it's quickly revealed that Sheeni already has a boyfriend, a real manly man named Trent. How can anyone played by Michael Cera compete with a guy named Trent? Easy – by inventing an alter ego that gives voice to his rampaging id, a rogueish cad named Francois (because Sheeni loves French things). Francois allows Nick to do and say things that he'd never otherwise say.

And that's when things really take off. The pleasure of this movie is twofold. First, Cera's delivery and the script by Gustin Nash go together like Forrest Gump and Jenny. The jokes are often laugh-out-loud quality, and it's at least partly due to Cera's sometimes-mumbled, frightened-rabbit replies. His funny lines are played straight, and somehow it works. Second, the absurd escalating situations in which Nick finds himself – as a result of his own actions, it should be noted – are funny the same way Mr. Creosote's predicament was funny in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. The stuff Nick does at the behest of Francois to win Sheemi's heart are hilarious yet unlikely – and yet they ring true nonetheless.

It also helps that Cera is supported by some damn funny actors: Galifianakis is a hoot in a somewhat dark role; Steve Buscemi plays Nick's dad with vulgar intensity (as if he were a domesticated version of Mr. Pink); Justin Long, of all people, is Sheeni's stoner older brother; M. Emmett Walsh (who's perhaps a tad too old to be the father of a teen) is Sheeni's dad; Mary Kay Place is the mom; Smart as Nick's mom; and Adhir Kalyan as a fellow student who helps Nick in his quest for Sheeni. Oh, and Fred Willard as a neighbor who likes to save illegal immigrants from the INS.

I know the word "quirky" is overused for oddball comedies today, particularly those starring Michael Cera (who, if he plays another Nick, may as well dot his face with bloodied pieces of tissue paper), but this one outquirks most of them. Even with all the madness zooming around this film, at the heart of things is the love between a girl and a boy and the lengths either will go to protect that bond. This movie should appeal to those who like offbeat romances.

Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) is sixteen years old, his parents are separated, his closest friend his having a midlife crisis over thirty years too early and all he can think about is the fact that he hasn't lost his virginity yet. He is almost the common replica of the stereotypical teenage boy, except for the fact that he enjoys the films of Fellini and Godard. Everything changes however for Nick when a brief, chance move from his lonely hometown of Oakland to a religious mobile trailer park in the small city of Ukiah brings him face to face with Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) – who is unequivocally the love of his life. But when his family moves back to Oakland, Nick must invent a supplementary 'bad-boy' persona within himself named Francois (he has a moustache, and enjoys the occasional smoke), who would be willing to cause the mayhem Nick wouldn't. Francois's central objective is to get Nick kicked out of his dysfunctional home in Oakland, which he shares with his emotionally fragile mother (Jean Smart), and reunited with Sheeni, with the intention of living happily ever after (while also losing his virginity).

'Youth in Revolt', is another hip, quirky comedy in which Michael Cera is given centre-stage in which to showcase abilities, however, he must tread cautiously in the future as he is dangerously close to becoming typecast (Superbad, Juno) as the desolate, yet intellectual teenage boy just looking to release his sexual burden. Cera and Doubleday carry the film along nicely, and provide some very humorous on-screen chemistry, especially during the sequences involving very awkward circumstances – i.e. when Nick is asked to place a small amount of sun cream on Sheeni's back during a trip to the beach. Portia Doubleday in particular shines as unknown actress thrust into the supporting actress slot alongside Michael Cera. She works with a particular grace, and maturity that makes her performance at times overshadow that of the experience Cera.

While aside from these two characters, Arteta's film also has an extensive A-list cast on show who take a backseat to the main story and occasionally chime in during the various convoluted sub-plots on show. Steve Buscemi is Nick's jobless father George Twisp, Zack Galifianakis is Nick's mothers first boyfriend Jerry who should never be let out around the Navy, and Ray Liotta plays Officer Wescott, a fascist policeman who also starts dating Nick's mother and becomes somewhat responsible for Nick's downfall. Fred Willard (Mr Ferguson), Justin Long (Paul Saunders) and M. Emmet Walsh (Mr Saunders) also make an appearance in the extensive cast. Despite this list containing the 'whose who' of Hollywood Boulevard, I was surprised to see that certain narrative arcs were ignored. For instance, if the relationship between Nick and his father was expanded upon, it would have provided further substance to the film and the characters themselves. Though, unfortunately we are left filling in the majority of the gaps ourselves.

Miguel Arteta has created a very funny and witty film in 'Youth in Revolt,' that despite having its flaws and areas in which it could have improved upon, ultimately prevails as another competent coming-of-age teen-flick that is centred around the holiest of teenage sanctities: sexual intercourse. The amusing remarks, awkward sexual situations, and hardcore French supplementary personas are all there creating another comfortable vehicle for Cera, to drive to a French Boarding School.

Nothing is worse than knowing that you have met the girl of your dreams only to find out she has a boyfriend that is so unbelievably superior to you that you have no chance to win her over. That is exactly what happens to Nick Twisp (Michael Cera), but instead of meekly accepting his fate like a good little nerd he decides to fight back by creating a persona his French-loving would-be girlfriend cannot resist, Francois Dillinger. Francois appears periodically throughout the film to offer advice and, more often, take control of the situation by flagrantly defying authority or bringing his bad boy machismo into play.

I imagine Francois is what every stock French resistance fighter was like when he was sixteen with no war to fight; well dressed in gleaming white slacks and sandals, sporting a casual-looking button down shirt, but with a thin mustache and cigarette to add mystery and mystique. The very image of Francois makes me laugh. This also happens to be the only movie where parents are the unknowing consumers of illicit narcotics and it is actually funny.

'Youth in Revolt' adapts the first three volumes of C.D. Payne's six-book series about Nick Twist, a smart and, in his own opinion anyway, more-than-usually horny 14-year-old in Oakland ("a large, torpid city across from San Frandisco") who reports in daily journal form on a series of adventures encountered on the way to losing his virginity, despite the obstacles set up by his irresponsible divorced parents. Ironically, though pointed at today's young teens, 'Revolt's' R rating excludes them -- though the books are far more sexually explicit. Whether somehow this will become a cult movie via Netflix is hard to say. It's pretty faithful to the books, leaving out lots, but adding or changing little. Unfortunately Arteta's flat direction, and focus on the action aspects -- an accident, a fire, a botched fake suicide, invasion of the girls' dorm of a French-language prep school in Santa Cruz -- excises much of the self-satisfied wit of the books and Nick's one flourish, his intellectual and literary showing off. The film necessarily loses the flavor of a day-to-day-journal, though most of the characters tend to talk in the same ornate, overly-polite style as Nick's entries.

C.D. Payne is no Salinger. His books serve as page-turners for young readers, but they're nothing special. There's a curious sense of being out of time. Is this the Nineties, when the books were begun?-- or the youth of Payne himself, who was born in 1949? Nick's girlfriend Sheeni (Portia Doubleday)'s fascination with Belmondo, chanteur Serge Gainsbourg, and the existentialists, -- and the general innocence of the behavior -- would suggest earlier days, but in the movie, people have cell phones, and a prevalance of 'shrooms and blunts makes this post-Breathless (francophile Sheeni's favorite movie). The main point was to keep the incidents coming, and Payne went on with "The Further Journals" and finally the adventures of Twist's younger brother.

Young Canadian actor Michael Cera, the star of Miguel Arteta's adaptation of this movie, who's now twenty-one, was already a TV veteran before he was ten. Though he appeared in many episodes of the cable series "Arrested Development," and in retrospect we realize he played the young Chuck Barris in George Clooney's droll ramble 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,' he reached a kind of nerdy, adorable mega-stardom only a couple years ago with two big hits, 'Juno' and 'Superbad,' followed by the equally charming if less seen 'Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist.'

What has Mike done with his stardom? Well, he played opposite Jack Black in Harold Ramis' slapstick (and generally panned) prehistoric comedy 'Year One' and co-starred with his now ex-girlfriend Charlene Yi in the poorly received 'Paper Heart.'

Cera has good timing and is adept at delivering lines, which makes him well suited for comedy. His limitations in other areas appear in this new outing. He's both the hero and voice-over narrator, Nick Twist and Nick's bolder and more dashing imaginary alter ego, Francois, who goads him on to bolder action. There is a certain nonchalance in the flat style. Under ideal circumstances it might seem elegant. If you could be nerdy and cool at the same time Michael Cera is it, and girls do find him cute. He rarely appears anything but relaxed. But the high-pitched voice is inexpressive. The range is from A to B, and this is highlighted by how little success Cera has in making Francois seem any different from Nick, despite a little mustache, tight pants, and a lot of cigarettes (amusingly, puffed on even while running fast through the woods, while Nick lags clumsily behind). With this new performance, Cera continues to seem enormously appealing, but for conventional starring roles, cripplingly limited. He's just too pale and bland and androgynous, and the more he's cast as a horny guy the more far-fetched that seems. Anything with him in it seems de-fanged.

Maybe it doesn't matter. You either get it or you don't, and there are plenty of young readers who insist these are "the best books ever." This is as good a time as any for some lighthearted teenage adventures. (The adaptation was co-written by Gustin Nash, the guy who did 'Charlie Bartlett,' a so-so movie about a young high school entrepreneur starring Anton Yelchin.)

'Youth in Revolt' casts some veritable cult actors, who include M. Emmett Walsh as Sheeni's born-again-Christian dad and Mary Kay Place as her mom, Steve Buscemi as Nick's dad, Ray Liotta as a cop who gets involved with his floozy mom (Jean Smart). But the presence of such memorable thespians only emphasizes how little developed their characters are. I liked relative newcomer Adhir Kalyan as Veejay, Nick's erudite school friend and fellow would-be seducer of women: he gives his lines some juice. Best of all is Justin Long, who slides into the scene as Sheeni's sly older brother. He is the only unexpected character. Long can always do a lot with a small part, and when he gets a bigger one, like in Raimi's recent old-fashioned horror movie 'Drag Me to Hell,' he can be equally appealing. And there are others, such as comedy veteran Fred Willard as an excessively good-hearted neighbor.

The director, Miguel Arteta, did annoying but memorable work with writer Mike White in 'Chuck and Buck,' and the pair made something very droll in 'The Good Girl.' One wonders if Arteta was the ideal person to do this job. He seems just to be walking through it.

The Eighties were the time of the movies that celebrated youth and its many voices, ranging from S.E. Hinton and 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' to the dark Alpha Girl portraiture of 'Heathers,' and John Hughes' classics. This lacks their warmth and bite.

But I still like Cera, and as has been said by a preview audience member, "His fans will be in heaven" with this.