The Michael Cera persona, once endearing, has become somewhat of a stigma for the actor. Can Cera keep this persona going as he ages, will he change it up, or will his career fade because no one can accept him in anything other than this one role? I don't know that Youth in Revolt answers this question, but it certainly gives him a chance to both play into his signature style, as well as tweak it at times. I myself adored Cera's work in Arrested Development, but have found myself growing tired of him in the years since. So I was pleasantly surprised to find him once again endearing in Youth in Revolt. It's not a film that will change your opinion of the guy, but if you are alright with that, you will find a film that is at times unexpectedly delightful.Cera plays the unfortunately named Nick Twisp, a boy who can't figure out where he belongs. All the kids his age seem so insufferably immature, yet the adults are no better: his mother only wants him around so she can collect child support, and his father is too busy with his floozy new girl to notice Nick. So when Nick meets a similarly disaffected youth in Sheeni Saunders, he falls for her. But fate seems destined to keep them apart. Not satisfied with that, Nick develops a split personality in the guise of Francois Dillinger. These two personalities work together to get Sheeni, but at what cost?
What makes Youth a breath of fresh air is that it takes a tired genre - the teen sex comedy - and infuses it with some personality. Sure, by the end it still hits the usual notes, but it does so with a unique flair. Director Miguel Arteta dresses the film up with a number of touches from European films, most notably those of the French New Wave, in order to take the film in different directions than most films of a similar ilk. The way in which he contrasts Cera's personality with that of the kind of guy someone like Belmondo would play is very silly and enjoyable to watch. Cera is clearly no rebel, so to frame him in such a way heightens the absurdity of the situation he is in. Where Belmondo would be effortlessly cool, Nick's attempts at cool go in increasingly bizarre directions. A real rebel would storm into his loved one's home, her parents be damned. Nick has to dress up like a woman for fear of being caught. Things like this are goofy, but Cera makes them work.
Youth in Revolt isn't a film intended to break new ground, although from what I've heard of the source material, it very well could have had it been adapted right. But what it does do is make a recognizable story fun again. Michael Cera's deadpan delivery works well when he is playing alter ego Francois, and for that alone it is worth seeing. And while Cera isn't shaking his usual persona, for those curious to see if he can, this film offers glimpses of that possibility in the future.
