YOUTH IN REVOLT
Sometimes it seems as if there is a constant flood of coming of age films, usually from the male perspective, and usually focussed on the male adolescent obsession with losing their virginity. Although Miguel Arteta’s (The Good Girl, Chuck and Buck, Star Maps) qualifies as such it steps way outside of the overly exhausted formula seen in most Hollywood productions.
Perhaps this has to do with the source material for the film. Youth in Revolt, the film, is based on the first in a series of four novels by C.D. Payne which chronicle the adventures of Nick Twisp (Michael Cera.) Nick, like most teenage or child protagonists, is light years ahead of his elders intellectually, emotionally, and even aesthetically. As we are introduced to him in the film we see a poster of Jean Paul Belmondo, as well as stills from his tour de force performance in Breathless, on his wall. The camera pans around, as Nick shares his musical predilections, to a close-up of Songs For Swingin’ Lovers, one of Frank Sinatra’s greatest collaborative efforts with Nelson Riddle. Unfortunately Nick is saddled with a slatternly mother, played gamely by Jean Smart, always on the make for an inappropriate boyfriend, as well as a delusional father (Steve Buscemi) who lives with a dimwitted 25 year old. Nick suffers in silence until he, by chance, meets the girl of his dreams, Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) on a vacation. When fate continually conspires to keep Nick and Sheeni apart, Nick calls on assistance from the smoking, mustachioed, and tight white pants wearing François (Michael Cera).
Michael Cera is a unique kind of teenage every man. He’s so slight and smooth, he’s almost effeminate, a child man whose hormones haven’t fully kicked in. He’s a perfect innocent because he really doesn’t seem to have any innate wickedness like other actors trying to make the great leap from adolescent roles to young adult. As cute as he was Leonardo DiCaprio who could switch from bad boy to innocent and back in the blink of an eye, and it would be hard to believe either he or Zac Efron would ever have trouble finding female companionship. Yet here Cera has to step out of his nice geeky comfort zone and test his range. With a cool, nasal, deeply sarcastic affect he does pull it off. But the film is more interested in how Nick is left scrambling after the consequences of his various schemes to get back to Sheeni go awry, and how he, himself becomes emboldened.
Although the film weighs heavily on Cera’s shoulders, it is the kind of multi-character, multi-adventure text that requires the hand of a strong director. Arteta specializes in offbeat characters living in the worlds we don’t usually see in big movies. Here we have suburbs and trailer parks, in fact the most affluent location, downtown Berkeley gets burned down. I’m not sure Arteta is making any kind of political statement, but it is funny. Arteta also adds to the richly conceived visual details by interweaving short bits of stop motion animation here and there.
Ultimately we all know how these coming of age things wind up. And it is a romantic comedy, above all else. That being said, the ending is not standard and the road to it, is wildly unpredictable. As Manohla Dargis, recently noted, when guys like Judd Apatow (and I’ll add Arteta here) make the best romantic comedies, what’s a woman like Nancy Meyers to do?
Youth in Revolt opens January 8, 2009.
Directed by Miguel Arteta; written by Gustin Nash, based on the novel “Youth in Revolt” by C.D. Payne; produced by David Permut. Released by Dimension Films. Running time: 90 minutes.
With: Michael Cera (Nick Twisp and François); Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday); Jean Smart (Estelle Twisp); Zach Galifianakis (Jerry); Erik Knudsen (Lefty); Adhir Kalyan (Vijay Joshi); Steve Buscemi (George Twisp); Fred Willard (Mr. Ferguson); Ray Liotta (Lance Wescott); Justin Long (Paul Saunders); Mary Kay Place (Mrs. Saunders) and M. Emmet Walsh (Mr. Saunders.)
