Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) is a pretty good kid who lives with his amorous mom, Estelle (Jean Smart) and her grimy trucker boyfriend, Jerry (Zach Galifianakis). Nick has tastes that aren't typical for a teenaged boy like the music of Sinatra and the films of Fellini. Oh, and Nick is a virgin with no hopes of changing that any time soon. He and his best friend Lefty (Eric Knudsen) talk about girls and of someday having one to call their own, but so far, things haven't worked out for either of them. Then one day, Nick and his makeshift family take a "vacation" to Ukiah, CA and it is there that Nick meets Sheeni (Portia Doubleday), and falls instantly in love. Sheeni is a bit of a free spirit, with very conservative Christian parents and a love for all things French. She dreams of leaving this small town and traveling all around the world and of a dashing man she can share these adventures with. Nick is not that man... or is he?
When events threaten to separate the two, Sheeni encourages Nick to "be bad" so his mom will kick him out and he can move in with his dad (Steve Buscemi), since Sheeni is working an angle to get him a job in Ukiah. Nick isn't even capable of backtalk, much less the kind of turmoil he'll need to cause to get kicked out, so in steps alter ego, Francois Dillinger, a slick, confident, mustached badass of the nth degree. And let me tell you, Francois can get the job done. Together, the "pair" of them cause millions of dollars in damage with hilarious results, the most important one being him being sent off to live with Dad in Ukiah. While Nick/Francois seems to have been successful, it is short-lived when Sheeni's strict parents send her off to boarding school some 50 miles away to get her away from Nick, the bad influence. That's ok, because with the help of Francois, new-found Ukiah friend Vijay (Adhir Kalyan), and Sheeni's older druggie brother, Paul (Justin Long), the boys decide to do whatever it takes to get Sheeni home.
What sets this film apart is that at different times, the movie will morph into claymation or animation and it reminded me of another shining star I saw recently, (500) Days of Summer. The animation is simply used to tell parts of the story that might be a little on the inappropriate side, but would be okay to show as more of a cartoon experience. Be sure to watch the ending credits because the epilogue of the story is told through cartoon. That being said, this movie is rated R because it does contain some very obvious drug use and numerous sexual references and it's not one for the kiddies. But it's not the typical raunch comedy like Superbad. Special features are on the light side, but enjoyable. There is a series of deleted scenes and some deleted/extended animation sequences. There's audition footage for the young stars in the film, except for Cera, plus commentary with Director Miguel Arteta and Michael Cera. The commentary was interesting, but more like two guys chatting rather than calling out specific references to the film as it played in the background. Youth in Revolt looks and sounds great on Blu-ray, but isn't the type of film that begs to be seen on high-def. The animation sequences and the explosion scenes that were Francois' handiwork benefit the most from the high-def treatment, but if you only have a DVD player, you should still check the movie out and you won't be missing too much, aside from the movieIQ and BD Live, which is simply real-time info and trivia while the movie plays (if you turn these features on).
Youth in Revolt is simply a must-see for any fan of Cera's. His form of humor really works in this film and seeing him as a tough guy is great too, because it's still him, just more direct and without his typical hesitation. Fred Willard as his father's crazy neighbor and Ray Liotta as another of his mom's boyfriends only add to the eclectic mix of really funny people. Everyone is great and it's just a fun and different sort of movie. Highly recommended.
