Movie Review: “Youth in Revolt”
16-year-old Nick Twisp is a nerd. He’s pale and skinny and listens to Frank Sinatra on vinyl while penning “classic prose”. He has no hope of ever landing a girlfriend, and if he did, his insane, recently divorced parents would scare her off in an instant. Nick knows all of this, so when he meets his dream girl, Sheeni Saunders, he does something drastic. He creates a debonair alter-ego named Francois Dillinger, Nick’s characteristic opposite. When Nick lacks the confidence to do what it takes to attract Sheeni, Francois takes over.
Lucky for Nick, Francois’ ideas, which include car-theft and arson, work. Sheeni, obsessed with the drama found in movies, finds Nick’s new, rebellious attitude sexy, and the two begin dating. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for Francois’ crimes to catch up with Nick, forcing him to leave Sheeni and live life as a fugitive.
On its surface, Youth in Revolt works. The film provides enough absurdist humor to sustain an audience through its 90 minute runtime. Although half of Michael Cera’s role requires him to do nothing more than play his usual stock character, the scenes featuring Francois are entirely fresh. The juxtaposition of Cera’s performance as Nick (a very familiar sight), next to that of the much edgier Francois, provides much of the film’s humor. While it seems effective in the moment, one has to wonder: would this movie still be funny if audiences weren’t familiar with Michael Cera?
Imagining Youth in Revolt with another leading man (I use the term “man” loosely) is a difficult, but somewhat enlightening task. Would Francois still be funny if played by, say, Zac Efron? Or would he just seem kind of evil? Does the film’s charm rely too heavily on the shock of seeing Cera behave so badly? I think so. I really doubt I’d even be able to muster a chuckle if I only read the screenplay, left to imagine my own rendering of Nick and Francois.
Because the movie leans so heavily on an actor, rather than the strength of its characters, it loses credibility. It’s hard to recommend a film that has no real merits, aside from a decent casting director. That being said, I still laughed. I still enjoyed the hour and a half spent at the theatre, and for that, it’s also hard to not recommend.
Ultimately, Youth in Revolt is a decent film at best, and is really worth no more than a rental. If used as nothing more than a way to pass the time at home on a rainy day, it should do just fine.
