Directed by: Miguel Arteta
Starring: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Jean Smart, Mary Kay Place, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Long, Ray Liotta, Steve Buscemi
Distributed by: The Weinstein Company
Running Time: 89 minutes
Film: 3.5 out of 5 stars
DVD Special Features: 4 out of 5 stars
“Youth in Revolt” follows 16-year-old Nick Twisp (Michael Cera), who is living with is mother (the amazing Jean Smart) and her boyfriend (Zack Galifianakis). Nick is an outcast who is looking for his route through life with love on his mind. He meets Sheeni (Portia Doubleday) and decides to become ‘bad’ to win her over and they can be together and run away from everything. The film is based on the 1993 epistolary novel, “Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp” written by C. D. Payne. According to the commentary track on the DVD, the director, Miquel Arteta tried to stay close to the novel but had to broaden its approach in some instances to make it more for the big screen.
Before watching the film this really was the make or break movie for me with Michael Cera. Wasn’t a super big fan…prior. This film definitely shows great potential for Cera as a comedic actor. His alter-ego that he created Francois Dillinger steals his scenes as the smoking outlaw, also played by Cera. The DVD cover shows Zach Galifianakis and Justin Long but they are barely in the film. Specifically Galifianakis, who shows up more on the deleted scenes than in the movie. Not sure why they chose to cut his scenes he is one very funny guy. Justin Long is always fun to watch. He plays Sheeni’s older druggie brother. Ray Liotta has maybe two scenes in the film and doesn’t add much. Steve Buscemi stars as Nick’s father and has a few good scenes but his character doesn’t focus on his comedic strengths. Fred Willard has a brief appearance too and easier steals the most laughs as Nick’s refugee smuggler neighbor. The film’s short running time is perfect and delivers a few good laughs and its quirky dialogue is very entertaining throughout.
There are a handful of deleted scenes on this disc. The first two of the scenes are jsut sex talk between Nick and Sheeni, pretty funny. There is more scenes and even an animation sequence with Zach Galifianakis. The footage was great and would have been great in the film as his role seemed extremely brief. Nick’s friend Lefty (Erik Knudsen) has a scene fighting with Nick which doesn’t really fit the film. There is a scene with Justin Long, Fred Willard, Steve Buscemi which is a little bit awkward and understandably cut. One scene which really fit well was when Sheeni’s friend Trent calls Nick on the phone before them meeting him and Francois took over the call and it cracked me up. There is quick animation scene while Nick is tripping on shrooms and during it speaks to his father but seems too serious and not that funny. All in all, the deleted scenes were very watchable and enjoyable.
The extended scenes are a lot of claymation which I truly loved but I guess they thought that it was a little too much for the film. Seems like a shame though since claymation is such a lengthy process and then to cut it but at least we have it on the DVD. Lastly, there is audition footage for the cast. This is always interesting to watch the actors working their characters early during in the process of the film.
The commentary on the DVD is with director Miguel Arteta and star Michael Cera is very enjoyable. It seems like Miquel and Michael got along very well and keep talking throughout the whole commentary non-stop, except to point out their favorite scenes and dialogue. One really interesting bit of information revealed was that Apollo 11 astronaut pilot, Michael Collins appears in the film as an old man. Definitely entertaining to even just listen to if you don’t feel like watching the film again. I would recommend this.
