Youth in Revolt (D+ or 1.5/4 stars)
'Youth in Revolt', directed by Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl), is a nothing. At 84 min., it's a good half hour too short. The performances range from bad to okay. The look of the movie is cheap. The plot is contrived, redundant, & flimsy. And to think I thought it was going somewhere after it's sort-of promising 1st 20 min. Much has been made about this film's departure(s) from the book it's adapted from. To that I say, this movie has done nothing to make me want to pick up the book. Nick Twisp (the getting-to-be overexposed Michael Cera) is an affable, if dull, sex-obsessed 16 yr. old who loves Sinatra music, & is desperate to lose his virginity. Problem is, there's no girl around for him.
That all changes when he goes on a trip to a Bible trailer park with his trashy mom, Estelle (Jean Smart), & her slob boyfriend, Jerry (Zach Galifianakis). There, he meets the pretty, free-spirited Sheeni (Portia Doubleday), & its love at 1st sight for him. Sheeni likes him, but not as much as he to her. And furthermore, both her family & her ex-boyfriend conspire against him. So in order for the drab Nick to improve the situation, he implements a highly convoluted scheme to get her to love him. Thanks in no part to his rebellious alter-ego, Francois (Cera, again), Nick commits crimes of mass destruction, goes on the run from the police, drugs Sheeni (and her religious fanatic parents, played by Mary Kay Place, M. Emmett Walsh). And to this, Nick may still not get the girl of his dreams.
As mentioned above, the movie is a nothing. The beginning is promising. But something always seemed odd while watching this film; as if changes were being made constantly throughout production. The tone is inconsistent. The plot is episodic to a fault. Some of it is satire, some is drama, some is comedy. The drama is 'no one cares'. The comedy is weak; almost no genuine laughs to be had. The quirks leave no impact. The lead character is not someone to rally behind. The editing is awkward. And the animated sequences (which, I assume, are supposed to be cute) really offer nothing to the table stylistically or narratively. They're just ... there. If the intention was to create a low key, hip, quirky, dark teen coming-of-age comedy, than it missed the mark by a bit too much.
I have always liked Michael Cera for his tender, befuddled characterizations, but that 'oh gosh', geeky charm is starting to wear thin. As Nick, he's more of the same that we always see of him; boring. And as Francois, he does not make for a convincing bad boy. I hope this is the last we see of him for a while; or with material that goes in a completely new direction. I mildly enjoyed newcomer Portia Doubleday. Her chemistry with Cera is stellar early on. But she disappears for too long. And I think a better script will suit her just fine in the future. Jean Smart, a funny actress, doesn't really shine, here. Steve Buscemi aggravated me as Nick's lowly father. Ray Liotta randomly shows up as a bad cop who beds Nick's mother. Fred Willard is a non-entity as a next-door neighbor who houses illegal immigrants. My favorite characters were Sheeni's mushroom eating stoner brother (Justin Long), & Nick's Indian-accented co-conspirator (Adhir Kalyan).
So you see, big cast (lots of 'em, I enjoy). But they & the script lend very little; and that's hard to swallow. 'Youth in Revolt' is just a rambling, completely forgettable, disposable movie that is neither awful, nor decent enough to think about more than 10 seconds after you're done with it.
That all changes when he goes on a trip to a Bible trailer park with his trashy mom, Estelle (Jean Smart), & her slob boyfriend, Jerry (Zach Galifianakis). There, he meets the pretty, free-spirited Sheeni (Portia Doubleday), & its love at 1st sight for him. Sheeni likes him, but not as much as he to her. And furthermore, both her family & her ex-boyfriend conspire against him. So in order for the drab Nick to improve the situation, he implements a highly convoluted scheme to get her to love him. Thanks in no part to his rebellious alter-ego, Francois (Cera, again), Nick commits crimes of mass destruction, goes on the run from the police, drugs Sheeni (and her religious fanatic parents, played by Mary Kay Place, M. Emmett Walsh). And to this, Nick may still not get the girl of his dreams.
As mentioned above, the movie is a nothing. The beginning is promising. But something always seemed odd while watching this film; as if changes were being made constantly throughout production. The tone is inconsistent. The plot is episodic to a fault. Some of it is satire, some is drama, some is comedy. The drama is 'no one cares'. The comedy is weak; almost no genuine laughs to be had. The quirks leave no impact. The lead character is not someone to rally behind. The editing is awkward. And the animated sequences (which, I assume, are supposed to be cute) really offer nothing to the table stylistically or narratively. They're just ... there. If the intention was to create a low key, hip, quirky, dark teen coming-of-age comedy, than it missed the mark by a bit too much.
I have always liked Michael Cera for his tender, befuddled characterizations, but that 'oh gosh', geeky charm is starting to wear thin. As Nick, he's more of the same that we always see of him; boring. And as Francois, he does not make for a convincing bad boy. I hope this is the last we see of him for a while; or with material that goes in a completely new direction. I mildly enjoyed newcomer Portia Doubleday. Her chemistry with Cera is stellar early on. But she disappears for too long. And I think a better script will suit her just fine in the future. Jean Smart, a funny actress, doesn't really shine, here. Steve Buscemi aggravated me as Nick's lowly father. Ray Liotta randomly shows up as a bad cop who beds Nick's mother. Fred Willard is a non-entity as a next-door neighbor who houses illegal immigrants. My favorite characters were Sheeni's mushroom eating stoner brother (Justin Long), & Nick's Indian-accented co-conspirator (Adhir Kalyan).
So you see, big cast (lots of 'em, I enjoy). But they & the script lend very little; and that's hard to swallow. 'Youth in Revolt' is just a rambling, completely forgettable, disposable movie that is neither awful, nor decent enough to think about more than 10 seconds after you're done with it.