008: Youth In Revolt (2010)

Title: Youth In Revolt (2010)
Starring: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Zach Galifinakis
Directed By: Miguel Arteta

A lot of people are getting tired of the Michael Cera "schtick". I'm one of them. How many times can we be expected to believe him as the softspoken and lovable offbeat teenager? If you, too, are sick of this typecasting then you should give Youth in Revolt a try.

You will have to put up with Michael Cera being Michael Cera, but occasionally you'll be treated to the masterpiece that is "Francois Dillinger". Francois is the alter ego of Cera's character Nick Twisp. Nick falls for Sheeni and wants to be with her. But the only way that's going to happen is if he's bad (there's more to it in the plot, but I'll not get in to it here). Enter Francois Dillinger. Francois is the embodiment of all Nick's pent up aggression, and his actions give Nick a chance to be with Sheeni.

How this all plays out, I'll leave a secret but know this... Whenever "Francois" is on the screen, I liked it. And that sincerely is a credit to Cera. The character could've come across as forced and terrible, but what I saw could've been a spot-on Michael Cera impersonator doing an evil Michael Cera. And it was good. I liked seeing him step outside his comfort zone and just let loose a little.

The rest of the cast are all great as well. Zach Galifinakis and Ray Liotta nail their parts. I wish we would've seen more of both of them. Jean Smart and Steve Buscemi are tops as always as Nick's parents. Just as good were Justin Long, M. Emmet Walsh and Fred Willard in supporting roles. But there were 2 actors who surprised me. First was Portia Doubleday as Sheeni. The character was written a little more stuck-up and coldhearted, I think. But when it's coming from Doubleday, everything gets a little nicer. The second actor to catch me off guard was Adhir Kalyan as Vijay. It takes a certain skill to really pull off the "second banana" part, and Kalyan was aces throughout.

All in all, Youth in Revolt is a pretty good movie all around. But the young cast makes the best of their material, giving it that little something extra. Recommended.

Score: 8/10