Not Revolting But Pretty Tiresome

Since coming-of-age films are one of the guaranteed staples of the film industry, there is a tendency for my feeling both overwhelmed and underwhelmed from the staggering amount of output in this genre. Director Miguel Arteta brings us "Youth in Revolt", an adaptation of C.D. Payne's novel, "Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp". Payne also penned 2 more follow-up books and has earned a loyal readership of the series.

Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) is an unusual teen (we all were, weren't we?) who prefers Fellini and Sinatra to Apatow and Spears. His life is turned upside-down when he meets and falls in love with Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) but external forces like geography and meddlesome people conspire to keep them apart. Nick realizes that in his current form he will never be able to overcome the obstacles in his path of winning the heart of Sheeni.

The solution for Nick is to develop an alter-ego named Francois. Francois is far bolder and sports a moustache and smokes cigarettes. The problem is that even though Francois acts a whole lot tougher, he still looks like a nerd trying to look like a tough guy. Francois becomes an advisor bent on molding Nick into a "real" man. Instead, all I could think of was the alter-ego Bogart that Woody Allen brought into "Play It Again, Sam." In Woody's film the tactic works because there is a line drawn between Woody and Bogie. Well, actually it works a lot better there for many reasons, including better directing, writing and acting.

It is time for Michael Cera to break free from the ties that bind him to these types of roles unless he wants to be an eternal teenager. He is 21 and can probably get away with this twaddle for another time or two, but if he is interested in his career he should make a very definite attempt to avoid this lightweight nonsense and either strike out into real drama or more intelligent comedy. While "Youth in Revolt" is not revolting, it is only a few rungs higher than that.