At the Movies with Fatwayne

Well one thing that I can say about this coming of age movie is that it could easily have been titled “Revolting Youth!” At least when you consider that the premise of the film is that nice kids finish last or don’t even make the running, you just have to settle back and think about its message. Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) is a 16-year-old school kid who is not accepted by his peers and is, in fact, ostracized by everyone including his parents. He is pretty much leading a miserable life.

All this changes when he meets an attractive and smart young girl with whom he falls head over heels in love with. Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) shows some interest in Nick but tells him that she has a boyfriend. She also alludes to the fact that he is just too nice and innocent. In an effort to impress and court Sheeni, Nick invents an alter ego named Francois Dillinger who is a blue eyed mustachioed version of himself with a deep voice and a bad boy attitude.

Francois manages to get Nick into some serious trouble with the authorities but not before he impresses Sheeni with his exploits. This is a comedy and so the crimes committed by Nick/Francois are designed to make us laugh, that is if you think mayhem and destruction are funny.

There is a recurring series of cartoon action sequences that pop up in the movie which I found unappealing. I don’t know what they were going for but it did not work for me.

Michael Cera was a good choice to portray the virginal Nick and he has a certain endearing quality. The cast was rounded out by Jean Smart, Steve Buscemi, Fred Willard and Ray Liotta. It was not a bad movie, just not that good

Quotes from Youth in Revolt

Rated  – R -

Fatwayne’s Rating  -    -