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Review

Squeezing nearly 600 pages of a beloved cult novel into an 89-minute film, Youth in Revolt doesn't exactly live up to the cinematic expectations I had while reading The Journals of Nick Twisp in my 9th grade study hall. I remember reading author C.D. Payne's darkly funny epic of young lust, trying to conceal my laughter, and imagining how perfectly the story would fill out an HBO series. While director Miguel Arteta and screenwriter Gustin Nash are respectful of the original source material, many plot points that were fully developed in the book get a quick mention and fall by the wayside. Still, the humor is exponentially more intelligent than in your run of the mill "high school virgin wants to get laid" story.

Playing younger, Michael Cera brings his usual nervous, sweaty-palmed charm to the character of Nick Twisp - a hyper-intellectual 16-year-old who desires nothing more than the touch of a woman. After an incident involving some angry sailors, he's forced to flee on vacation to a lakeside trailer park with his somewhat neglectful mother (Jean Smart) and her low-life boyfriend Jerry (an underused Zach Galifianakis). There, he meets the equally intellectual, French culture-loving Sheeni Saunders (newcomer Portia Doubleday) and, after his first heavy make out session, becomes deeply infatuated. Though Nick is willing to throw away everything else in his life for the chance to live happily ever after with Sheeni, forces conspire to keep them apart - they don't live very close to one another, Sheeni's parents (M. Emmet Walsh & Mary Kay Place) are religious fanatics who don't trust Nick, and Sheeni already has a seemingly "perfect" boyfriend named Trent. These obstacles, however, do not seem insurmountable to Nick. He soon concocts a criminally-minded alternate persona named Francois Dillinger. Using this new personality, he's able to lie effectively, destroy property, manipulate neighbors, dress in drag, and much more in an effort to get closer to the girl of his dreams.

While, as Nick, Michael Cera doesn't seem much different than he did in Superbad or on Arrested Development, it's as Francois that his performance really shines. Sporting a goatee and piercing blue contact lenses, he brings an icy, devil-may-care confidence to the character that proves uncharacteristically funny while showing off his range. Steve Buscemi, Fred Willard, Ari Graynor, Ray Liotta and Justin Long also turn in memorable supporting performances. And, while I'm a fan of the novel and can't help but feel slightly disappointed by how condensed the finished film feels, I'm happy to see Miguel Arteta at the helm. Having worked previously from screenplays written by Mike White - The Good Girl & Chuck & Buck - Arteta has enough experience working with pitch black comedy to know how to sustain the darkly funny tone throughout.

 -- Robert O'Neill