Film: Youth in Revolt

For me Michael Cera has become almost a guarantee for what I've recently come to describe as a genius movie; the kind of flick that relies not on special effects or good make-up but a solid plot which normal people are able to relate to, some human acting and tons of feel good factor - see Up in the Air for a recent example of what I'm talking about. Although Youth in Revolt isn't the best example of a genius film it does manage to create a bit of a vibe about it.

It's basically more teen angst ridden drama: boy meets girl, boy becomes bad to impress girl, hilarity ensues. I can't really go much into the plot without spoiling it, but I will say that the most curious aspect of the film is in its pacing; quite a lot happens in the 90 minutes or so that this film runs for. But even more than that, it's really difficult to tell which bit is the beginning, which bit is the middle and which bit is the end. It's almost like we're actually being presented with a handful of set pieces from the life of Nick Twisp.

So its a bit of a curiosity at best then. I will note Adhir Kalyan's (of Aliens in America fame) performance as being superb; I think we'll get to see some good stuff from him in the future. Otherwise as much as I enjoyed this film I'm finding it difficult to recommend it. One for DVD then.