Youth in Revolt (2009): C+

Michael Cera’s awkwardly sardonic schtick has reached the point of polarization – either you’re with his softly voiced, linguistically erudite quips, or you’re fervently against them. Youth in Revolt does nothing to alter this paradigm, although the film’s central conceit – nerdy loner Nick Twisp (Cera), in an effort to win the heart of a Jean-Paul Belmondo-loving beauty (Portia Doubleday), creates a thin-mustached rebel alter ego – does afford the actor sporadic opportunities to move past this trademark routine. Miguel Arteta’s adaptation of C.D. Payne’s novel is a typical quirky indie comedy about outsider alienation and love along the lines of Ghost World (hey, even Steve Buscemi is here!), full of “alternative” caricatures and droll bon mots. Opening with the sound of the protagonist masturbating, Twisp’s roiling hormones are the plot’s engine, though this portrait of adolescent desire is so encased in self-aware snarkiness that it never manages to make an emotional dent and only rarely finds a way to amuse, as when Twisp, questioned about whether Ozu or Mizoguchi directed Tokyo Story, opines “Who can say?” Mostly, however, Youth in Revolt’s classic cinema shoutouts and gaggle of off-kilter characters feel like retreads, an impression also left by a Cera performance that, except in rare instances, detrimentally fails to rebel against type.

Comments

[Blue]

i am gonna attribute this, hopefully, to a bad day for the uberstache. seriously, same grade as A-team, huh? you must be seriously burnt out on cera, and beyond reconciliation for his rent-a-center equilavent, jessie eisenberg.

i loved this as a very amusing "fight club" for the mumblecore set. C+, really?

keep up the good work, CHiPs.

[Nick]

I wasn't in a bad mood, Blue. I just didn't think it was as funny as it thought it was. And yes, I'm somewhat tired of Cera's one-note routine at this point. But I was hardly all that negative.

The A-Team, however, isn't as bad as people have made it out to be. Taken on its own (very limited) terms, it's ok.