"Youth in Revolt" review

"Youth In Revolt" trailer in HD, starring Michael Cera and Portia Doubleday.

"Cera bounces back in a big way. While he still plays essentially the same character he's been playing since SUPERBAD & JUNO, YOUTH IN REVOLT finally allows him to show a bit of edge, especially once his alter-ego, Francois is introduced.Basically, Francois is the guy Nick wants to be. He dresses like Sheeni's idol, Jean-Paul Belmondo, sports a pencil-thin moustache, and always has a cigarette perched on his lips. He's also capable of some pretty horrible things, and the film gets surprisingly dark, with Nick getting ever more immoral. Appropriately, given Sheeni's obsession with all things french, YOUTH IN REVOLT more or less plays out like an American, teen comedy remake of an old Jean Luc-Goddard/ Belmondo film called PIERROT LE FOU- in which Belmondo played a regular guy, seduced over to a life of crime and anarchy by a beautiful woman played by Anna Karina (to whom Doubleday bears a remarkable resemblance).I think it helps that Cera`s got a really great director here, with Miguel Arteta- who previously helmed similarly dark comedies, CHUCK AND BUCK, and THE GOOD GIRL. Miguel Arteta directed Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal in "The Good Girl" (2002).
His comedic sensibility seems to suit Cera, with him giving the performance of his life- especially as Francois. The film also benefits from a stellar supporting cast, including Buscemi, Smart, Ray Liotta, and Fred Willard, who steals every scene he`s in as Cera`s establishment hating neighbor who also has a pretty bad magic mushroom trip in one particularly memorable scene. I also really enjoyed Adhir Kalyan as Nick`s sophisticated school friend Vijay with whom he takes a particularly eventful road trip towards the middle of the film.It`s truly a brilliantly dark comedy that had most of the critics at the press screening I attended laughing throughout, or at least the ones who didn`t walk out in disgust, which, truth be told, there were more than a few of (the film opens with Cera masterbating over the studio logo- so it's probably not for everyone)". Source: www.joblo.com