If Michael Cera were an actual commodity, “Youth In Revolt” would be his vanity piece. It plays out as a Cera showcase, as if he were a showman of Charlie Chaplin-like revere. And if this were true, he’s parading attributes such as: An extremely high-pitched and meek voice, the lankified stick-body of a pre-teen swedish boy and a penchant for extreme self-doubt. “Youth In Revolt” feels and acts like a less-assured version of Rushmore. It has a few hearty laughs, most of which are viewable in the trailer. The movie is filled with disappointing cameos, including Fred Willard, who is given absolutely nothing to do in a small role as a hippie neighbor. (Ok, he writhes around on a living room floor in a mushroom-fueled trip-out in one scene... big deal!) We are also treated to appearances by M. Emmet Walsh, (better known as the diving coach in “Back To School”) who has to be pushing 100 and Ray Liotta, who is simply cranky as the cop who is boning Cera's mom. The lone standout is Justin Long, as Michael Cera’s love-interest’s drugged-out brother. Replete with awkward moments and mark-missing gags, Cera spends WAY too much time prancing about shirtless, in his tighty-whiteys or just flat-out naked, like the class clown who’s seen Borat one too many times. He spends the entire plot, in classic 80s RomCom fashion, digging and twisting himself deeper and deeper into legal trouble through sociopathic behavior all in an effort to win the heart of his dream girl. Just when you think he is completely screwed, and will spend the next 5-7 years behind bars, his love interest explicitly reminds us that he is a minor and will spend at most 3 months in Juvie. Phew! Luckily, my sources tell me that “Youth In Revolt” only made $14 mil, most likely putting it in the top 5% of 2010 box office bombs. So hopefully this is a one off, and Cera can retire to his spot on the fringe of Apatowdom.
In A Nutshell: If Fight Club and Rushmore had a baby, and that baby went straight to video, that would be this movie.
Watch it: On a flight from Newark to Dallas-Ft.Worth
1/5 stars
Here's a sentence I never thought I'd see: "The lone standout is Justin Long..."
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that this movie got delayed something like 2 years, thereby missing out on the after-Juno-and-Superbad-Michael-Cera hysteria.
Nice review, Floyd!
enjoyed the review! yeah, it's amazing how quickly an actor can go from, "wow, that kid is really talented, can't wait to see more of him," to "oh, it's michael cera playing michael cera AGAIN?"
ReplyDeletehe does seem like he's got something in there, I would just like to see him stretch a little bit. however, after reading the above, I guess he's not quite ready to limber up yet...
JB
PS - LOVE M. Emmett Walsh - Blood Simple, baby!
Thanks for the respo's, gents. I think the next review will be about a movie I actually like, huh?
ReplyDelete