Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Review: 'Youth In Revolt' is witty at times and confused otherwise


Youth in Revolt   R  
            Michael Cera returns in true form, in a story that was filmed before his Superbad hit, but reedited in 2009, 'Youth in Revolt' based upon a book series. (I haven't read it), where he plays a teenage boy who longs to get away from his whacked out divorced parents and lose his virginity to some hot girl he might someday encounter. His character, Nick, meets Sheeni, a precocious and worldly girl who longs for Paris and to leave her upstart super Christian parents, and run away with Nick, but when they are separated, Nick gets a plan to become evil through an alter ego to get her back. Supposedly set in Oakland and Berkley and parts of Santa Cruz, California (of which the director took some liberties) the movie was evidently shot near Lansing and near Grand Rapids in Michigan, which sort of looks like Santa Cruz, sort of. Because it was filmed in Michigan I kept thinking it was a prequel to American Pie 2. Anyway, I doubt anyone else complained about that. Being familiar with at least the Bay Area and Santa Cruz I can say it was not Santa Cruz where they were filming! Ha. It was a good rental movie, almost a good young coming of age flick, if you don't mind it being a little naughty. Reminded me of the old 1980s John Hughes stuff a little, or maybe Ivan Reitman, like a 'Meatballs' meets 'Sixteen Candles' kind of feel. 
Review by Adam Browne

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