Step 1: What to say about Youth in Revolt? Well, it’s yet another coming-of-age tale with some familiar and recognizable quirks, but it’s also pretty damn amusing. Michael Cera puts another notch in his droll performance belt.
Step 2: Revolt, youth, revolt! Or, at the very least, get very cross with your parents once in awhile. That’s the general premise of C.D. Payne’s Youth in Revolt novels on which the film is based. We are introduced to one Nick Twisp (Cera), a teenager wise beyond his years. He has inattentive divorced parents, a depressive best friend, hates school – and has never been kissed by a girl. That all changes, however, when he meets Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) while vacationing in a trailer park with mom (Jean Smart) and her boyfriend du jour. Sheeni is bright, beautiful but also a bit aloof and unattainable. She also has a thing for French bad boys. Nevertheless, Nick falls hard and while obstacles seem to keep them apart, Nick makes it his mission to be with Sheeni, at any cost – even creating a rebellious French, mustached alter ego named Francois to impress her. And Francois is indeed baaaaad …
Step 3: Stay offbeat. In the hands of director Miguel Arteta (The Good Girl, Chuck and Buck), Youth in Revolt comes off slightly more skewed than your typical coming-of-age story, which saves the film from becoming a cliche. Indeed, Arteta adds animated flourishes, clever voice over techniques and other quirky devices to tell screenwriter Gustin Nash’s adapted story and keeps the audience engaged. Of course, casting Michael Cera helps a bunch, too. Apparently, Cera is a huge fan of Payne’s books and was itching to play Nick Twisp, so that extra level of passion from the actor shines through. I mean, as much passion as the dry-witted Cera is able to muster up. So long as there are sardonic yet geeky teen roles out there to play, you’ve got Cera or Zombieland‘s Jesse Eisenberg to handle them with aplomb.
Step 4: Gather an equally hilarious supporting cast. Youth in Revolt sports some great supporting performances from the likes of Jean Smart as Nick’s slutty mom, Steve Buscemi as Nick’s beleagured dad, Justin Long as Sheeni’s mushroom-lovin’ brother, Mary Kay Place and M. Emmet Walsh as Sheeni’s bible-thumpin’ parents, Fred Willard as a wacky, bleeding-heart neighbor and Zach Galifianakis and Ray Liotta as the mom’s boyfriends. Good stuff.
Level of difficulty in watching Youth in Revolt: Easy as knocking over your cereal bowl at the family breakfast table as an act of rebellion.