Coming to think about it, I think it'd be appropriate to begin to refer to events in cinematic history with respect to when Avatar was released. That would make today 2 months and 2o-something days A.A (After Avatar).
I went to see Michael Cera's new flick "Youth in Revolt" with a group of friends I'd been moping around with for the day. I'd been looking forward to seeing the film that whole Saturday afternoon because I'd read an engaging article about it during the Summer and I hadn't been to the cinema in a fair few weeks.
I sat down in the screening room after the film had started. I had been hanging about in the lobby with some friends who were waiting for their popcorn whereas most of the group had already taken their seats. Luckily, by the time I had found my seat in the darkness of the theatre the film was still rolling its opening sequence. The film had been advertised as a comedy, so I wasn't expecting any sort of integrity or meaning. I was optimistic nonetheless and watched the film with an open mind.
I don't know if it was because of my mood while watching the film, but "Youth in Revolt" greatly impressed me.
The film is partly based on a novel of the same name by C.D Payne and follows Nick Twisp (Michael Cera), a rakish and withdrawn teenager. Nick is sixteen and is interested in all sorts of obscure art forms, with a particular love of cinematography. His parents are divorced. He doesn't live with his father and his mother has been involved in a series of short-lived relationships since the separation. He leads his unremarkable life in small-town America as a dorky teenager stereotypically does; he's picked on by his peers and obsesses wildly over girls far out of his league. Thankfully, his life changes when he, his mother's boyfriend and his mother decide to spend some time in a relative's derelict caravan in a rural campsite. The campsite is somewhere in the American outback and is home to Sheeni (Portia Doubleday), an intellectual and beautiful teenager with whom Nick unavoidably falls in love. Disregarding the well presented sub-plots, the rest of the film documents Nick's fall from grace as he overcomes all sorts of obstacles with the aim of being with his newfound love.
Youth in Revolt seems at first to be just one more film of a new breed of which takes into account teenage popular culture and the psychological rollercoaster associated with teenagedom itself (Juno etc.). It may initially remind you of films in the past which have tried and failed to capture the teenage spirit. I can assure you, though, that this film is nowhere near as fruitless as the films we've seen dealing with teenage life in times gone by. It's original and, what's more, it succeeds where other's have failed. Having said thas, however, there were some aspects of the film which could've been improved; the novelty of Michael Cera's generic unfortunate-yet-charming teenage role had worn thin with me and the ending became somewhat sentimental.
With moments of gorgeous cynicism and convincing performances from the dup of young starring actors, "Youth in Revolt" left me confident that modern cinema has retrained the ability to leave its audience refreshed, if somewhat apathetic.
8/10.
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