Youth in Revolt

Quirky and awkward. Aloof and dispassionate. Michael Cera has the market cornered for dry, sardonic teen humor. His latest pits him as a lovestruck kid from a dysfunctional family who finds himself doing abhorrent things to impress the girl of his dreams.

The premise may pique some interest, but the delivery leaves much to be desired. Cera is Nick Twisp, a teen who has too sharp of a wit, and too broad a vocabulary to be taken seriously. His mother is a slut living off of his child support payments, and his father is chasing twenty-somethings. Nick leads a miserable existence, and worst of all, he is a virgin.

After realizing that women fall for bad boys (how unique), he creates an alter-ego named Francois Dillinger. What contributes to the comedic failure of the film is how Dillinger is not given the opportunity to let loose. His deadpan confidence is amusing, but his dialogue is shortened in contrast with Twisp's nerdy, voice-cracking mumblings.

The film attempts to capitalize on the success of American Pie, Superbad, and the other teen romp-comedies of the past ten years, but does so in an original way, which is frankly not very funny. Cera has a natural humor about him, but with the exception of a few good lines, the film falls flat.

Miguel Arteta, the director has been directing TV for the past decade, but this is his first high profile film. The attempt is valiant, but falls flat. Some of the humor is crude and ill-timed (I know - am I getting old, or what?).

Cera's acting talent is being wasted on typecast roles. I would love to see him take on something more seriously, which he dabbled in with Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, and Juno. He will be around for a long time (only 21), but I am waiting for the leap to more adult roles.

The supporting cast is mostly disappointing; Steve Buscemi, Zach Galifianakis, Ray Liotta, Fred Willard, and Justin Long all have limitless potential, but every one of them were given mediocre at best roles.

Forgettable story, brief pockets of humor, but otherwise terrible. 5/10.