Critic Reviews
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Tom Huddlestone, Time Out
The tone throughout is moderately quirky rather than full-on teen-flick vulgarian, bolstered by indie-cred cameos.
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David Edelstein, New York Magazine
I love this new breed of dirty movie. It goes beyond leering, beyond sexism, to the core tension of a culture that ricochets between Puritanism and promiscuity. And it has in Michael Cera a sterling mascot.
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Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle
A clever and often riotous burst of cynicism that pushes, let's face it, some pretty questionable ideas.
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Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Cera may be trapped in his unchanging persona, but no more than this picture is walled in by its sitcom conventions.
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Tom Long, Detroit News
Youth in Revolt is a teen fantasy filled with lust, imagination, frustration and lots of laughs, artfully made and superbly played.
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Manohla Dargis, New York Times
A sweet and slight and often charming coming-of-age tale.
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John Hanlon, Big Hollywood
An uneven story and crass comedy could leave viewers revolted.
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Sarah Sluis, Film Journal International
Michael Cera adopts a mischievous alter ego in an attempt to reunite with his dream girl in a familiarly peculiar story.
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Mike Edwards, What Culture
Playing on feelings and impulses that I'm sure we all relate to, a witty and playful portrait of teen love emerges out of a less exciting teen comedy.
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John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Nick Twisp is no Scott Pilgrim, but this is another witty ensemble comedy that successfully reinvigorates that most benighted of genres, the teen film.
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James Rocchi, Common Sense Media
Story of "bad-boy" teen is funny, but also rough and raw.
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Simon Foster, sbs.com.au
Arteta's faithfulness to Payne's text, themes and visions never gel as a wholly satisfying film.
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David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...an engaging and faithful adaptation of Payne's admittedly superior novel.
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Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Michael Cera goes to the sweet-tempered high school persona well once (or twice) too often with, sigh, Nick Twisp, who lives in hormonal agony with his sex-obsessed divorced mother (Jean Smart) and her nasty boyfriend.
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Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
[Its] classic cinema shoutouts and gaggle of off-kilter characters feel like retreads.
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Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
This red state versus blue state daringly offbeat chucklefest elevates that notorious dumb and dumber genre known as teen comedy, into fresh and verbally tangy territory. Enough so, to easily earn this movie informal bragging rights as Juno II.
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Kam Williams, NewsBlaze
An ill-conceived sketch flick which falls flat at every turn.
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Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Deviates from the teen comedy norm and becomes something darker, edgier, and more unexpectedly funny.
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Sam Bathe, Fan The Fire
Makes early claims for the best comedy of 2010.
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Jason Zingale, Bullz-Eye.com
Cera's hilarious performance as a modern day Holden Caulfield makes Youth in Revolt a must-see for any fan of hipster comedies.
Read all 22 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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A dark satirical comedy. it took me a little bit to warm up to it but once I did I really enjoyed it.
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Milquetoast Michael Cera as a pencil-mustache-sportin' evil alter ego is entertaining enough, but the rest of the boy-ruins-his-life-for-a-girl story is pretty banal and quite tame surprisingly. Portia Doubleday as Sheeni isn't much of a siren either, but Rooney Mara looks… More
Milquetoast Michael Cera as a pencil-mustache-sportin' evil alter ego is entertaining enough, but the rest of the boy-ruins-his-life-for-a-girl story is pretty banal and quite tame surprisingly. Portia Doubleday as Sheeni isn't much of a siren either, but Rooney Mara looks satisfyingly hot and mean. The part with Adhir Kalyan from "Rules of Engagement" in his skivvies is funny.
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A cracking indy coming of age movie with the ever so funny Michael Cera. Really did not no what i was going to get here but it turns out to been a very funny and surreal comedy.Its when Cera French auter ego takes over that Cera really shines. All surrporting cast are so good with… More
A cracking indy coming of age movie with the ever so funny Michael Cera. Really did not no what i was going to get here but it turns out to been a very funny and surreal comedy.Its when Cera French auter ego takes over that Cera really shines. All surrporting cast are so good with justin long adding a little fun too.
This is a pleasant surprise and worth checking out.There are many laughs to have here.
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A new level in Michael Cera's carrer, Young in Revolt could be more other sex teen comedy, but the crude and satirical material of Miguel Arteta change this cliche kind of movie.
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What makes this film so interesting may just be how intriguing the main character is. He begins the film by clearly explaining to us how undoubtedly different he is, of course without saying it. Just the fact that he possesses a collection of vinyl records and has a fondness for Frank… More
What makes this film so interesting may just be how intriguing the main character is. He begins the film by clearly explaining to us how undoubtedly different he is, of course without saying it. Just the fact that he possesses a collection of vinyl records and has a fondness for Frank Sinatra should hint at this. The characterization is also a bit of a mixed bag, though. What feels a bit confusing about this movie is how far over the top his character is pushed. He seems like someone who would be more cerebral, more cautious of his actions, so once he has been established, the distance he goes to earn a relationship with the girl of his dreams seems quite unlike him.
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Youth In Revolt is a terrible, virtual laugh free comedy. This film was so bad, I had to stop it 45 minutes in. It didn't get better or funnier. Not even Zach Galifianakis made this film any funnier. The dialogue is so stupid, the acting beyond terrible and you really do feel… More
Youth In Revolt is a terrible, virtual laugh free comedy. This film was so bad, I had to stop it 45 minutes in. It didn't get better or funnier. Not even Zach Galifianakis made this film any funnier. The dialogue is so stupid, the acting beyond terrible and you really do feel sorry for how lame Michael Cera is with women.. What a lame actor he is, they basically took his so-so character Evan from Superbad and made him worse by making him wimpier and more depressing. I left in the middle and went to finish Mystic River instead.
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Francois Dillinger: I want to tickle your belly button... From the inside.
"He Wasn't a Rebel Until He Found His Cause."
I put off seeing Youth in Revolt for the longest time. The trailer didn't impress me and I thought the movie looked completely stupid. Granted… More
Francois Dillinger: I want to tickle your belly button... From the inside.
"He Wasn't a Rebel Until He Found His Cause."
I put off seeing Youth in Revolt for the longest time. The trailer didn't impress me and I thought the movie looked completely stupid. Granted it is stupid, but not in a bad way. I ended up really liking the film. I loved the independent feel to the movie, with occurrences like weird sexual diagrams coming to life and floating in midair during a mushroom trip. I liked Michael Cera's typecast performance as the lovable geek. I know Cera is starting to run thin with people, but I still find his performances to be hilarious. Maybe this is because I see a lot of myself in him.
A 16 year old falls in love with a beautiful girl, when his mother and her boyfriend move the family away for the summer. When they are forced to leave, the two devise a plan where he will get himself kicked out of the house. This will allow him to move in with his father and be close to his girlfriend. In order to get kicked out, he has to get in touch with his bad side. His bad aide ends up making all his decisions for him the rest of the movie, while trying to help him get the girl and get laid.
Youth in Revolt is a movie that is going to divide people. You will either sit there and be saying to yourself, "This is awesome" or "This is retarded." I was sitting there saying, "This is awesome." It's a different movie and I loved it for that. Sure it has the same main plot as a lot of the other teen comedies, but this one adds a lot of originality to the mix and makes for a special film.
I'm not going to argue with people who don't like the movie because I can definitely see why. It really isn't a movie for anyone out of their 20's. Middle aged to the elderly just won't get this movie. It's truly a movie for the young. I really wish I hadn't waited so long to see it.
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Surprisingly dark and audacious, Youth in Revolt will nonetheless probably be remembered as the movie where Michael Cera first broke out of type. His portrayal of Francois, a typical Truffaut anti-hero with a bone to pick with society, is aware and amusing, though I think a lot of… More
Surprisingly dark and audacious, Youth in Revolt will nonetheless probably be remembered as the movie where Michael Cera first broke out of type. His portrayal of Francois, a typical Truffaut anti-hero with a bone to pick with society, is aware and amusing, though I think a lot of people will misread that half of his performance as attempting to be "badass." He isn't badass, particularly; this is simply him channeling the prototypical mustachioed too-cool-for-you rebels who can't actually put their money where their mouth is. That's why the Nick Twisp persona exists - he's the one following through on Francois's manipulative goading because you get the feeling that someone like Francois would never, ever do the wack shit that Nick gets himself into. Watching him crawl deeper into the rabbit hole is a truly uncomfortable experience, and Youth in Revolt scores most of its laughs through unabashed cringe humor; it isn't entirely effective, sure, and anyone looking for a straight comedy will almost surely be disappointed. This is mostly a movie about kids leading shitty lives and trying desperately to protect the few bright spots that punctuate them.
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Michael Cera gets a bad rap for basically playing the same character in every one of his movies. There's something to be said for an actor who finds niche for himself in the movie industry. John Wayne is famous for being a cowboy and Micheal Cera is famous for being a quirky… More
Michael Cera gets a bad rap for basically playing the same character in every one of his movies. There's something to be said for an actor who finds niche for himself in the movie industry. John Wayne is famous for being a cowboy and Micheal Cera is famous for being a quirky teen. In fact, one can take for granted that Cera will be just fine in whatever quirky teen role he's in and spend their time focusing more on the film surrounding him. Youth in Revolt is actually a pretty entertaining film about quirky teens.
Michael Cera is stuck with his slutty mom and her dirty hobo boyfriend (Zach Galifianakis) who is on the run from sailors after selling them a broken down car. The three go up to a trailer park for a vacation-on-the-lam, and it's there Cera meets Sheeni (Portia Doubleday), an equally quirky teen who fulfills all the requisite "heartbreaker" qualities a quirky male teen might look for in a girl. Cera adopts an alter ego persona named Francois Dillinger to help him overcome his fears and become a sauve ladies man. Well, not necessarily adopts, Francois is sort of a guardian angel-type character that follows him around, advising him on how to handle certain situations. The film, while being a romantic indie comedy, goes to some pretty dark places, what with the drugs and obsessive stalker types. It's all done with full self awareness, for as they point out in the film, being a teenager is about emotional extremes, where things seem black-and-white, life-or-death, and hormonal attraction is so palpable, it might as well be a physical thing standing next to you in the room.
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Quirky yet funny. I weirdly liked it and Michael Cera is a great actor. His potryal of two different people is hilarous. A must see!
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A typical rom-com which doesn't provide enough fun. Michael Cera does well as Nick Twisp but his alter ego was terribly annoying.
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Micheal Cera can't act, he is a woman. They needed a more cooler actor here to fit the role, not Cera. The plot was interesting and fun. The movie itself is surprisingly funny, I was laughing a lot. The minor characters stesl the show as they are much funnier than Cera. This… More
Micheal Cera can't act, he is a woman. They needed a more cooler actor here to fit the role, not Cera. The plot was interesting and fun. The movie itself is surprisingly funny, I was laughing a lot. The minor characters stesl the show as they are much funnier than Cera. This movie was good, but a lot of changes couldve made it great.
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Big words from such a scrawny man.
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The tone is a little all over the place, but there are moments of brilliance here and there. Descent movie in need of a few re-writes.
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Between Youth in Revolt and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World I'm beginning to think I might have judged Michael Cera a little harshly. True, he's a one-trick pony that generally wears thin quickly, but as his character's alter-ego, Francois Dillinger, he rocked this movie.… More
Between Youth in Revolt and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World I'm beginning to think I might have judged Michael Cera a little harshly. True, he's a one-trick pony that generally wears thin quickly, but as his character's alter-ego, Francois Dillinger, he rocked this movie. The rest of Youth in Revolt was pretty amusing and reasonably funny even if a lot of the supporting cast was misused (mainly Steve Buscemi), the animation was a little tedious and the story was uneven. I'm not going to call Youth in Revolt essential viewing but it was worth the time and thank God for the R-rating. And if a Francois Dillinger sequel ever comes out I'm definitely there.
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Director Miguel Arteta's adaptation of the novel by C.D. Payne is a smart-alecky escapade about love and teen angst. Nick Twisp is a 14 year old smitten with an attractive neighbor. His goal to lose his virginity is not the noblest of objectives, but it allows for many witty… More
Director Miguel Arteta's adaptation of the novel by C.D. Payne is a smart-alecky escapade about love and teen angst. Nick Twisp is a 14 year old smitten with an attractive neighbor. His goal to lose his virginity is not the noblest of objectives, but it allows for many witty one-liners on the difficulties of dating and romance. It might've helped if his dream girl, Sheeni Saunders, was a bit more tender. She treats him with casual indifference for most of the film. Despite being one of star Michael Cera's lesser efforts, the story still has several moments of genuine humor: his accidental act of arson, those Kama Sutra hallucinations, or his failure at faking his own death are funnier because of his quirky charm. The action is populated with eccentric individuals with which Nick playfully interacts. One such character is Nick's alter ego Francois Dillinger, brazen and confident in the ways of seduction. This writer's device is somewhat reminiscent of Woody Allen's reliance on Humphrey Bogart in <I>Play It Again Sam. Youth in Revolt</I> is not even close to that legendary film's appeal, but in 2009, you could do worse.
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With his striped polo shirt and monotone shrugging, Michael Cera's become such a caricature that any film which recasts him as his evil alter ego is a welcome change of pace. The twee star goes bizarro-world schizoid in <i>Youth in Revolt</i>, acquiring a sleazy… More
With his striped polo shirt and monotone shrugging, Michael Cera's become such a caricature that any film which recasts him as his evil alter ego is a welcome change of pace. The twee star goes bizarro-world schizoid in <i>Youth in Revolt</i>, acquiring a sleazy moustache, perpetually lit cigarette and bad-boy moniker - Francois Dillinger - to scam his way to the girl of his dreams.
More pasty Jean-Paul Belmondo than Tyler Durden, Francois nonetheless makes an entertaining antihero, whether he's trashing trailers, blowing up cars or talking smut to his wimpy real-life <i>doppelganger</i>.
As directed by Miquel Arteta, this has an easy, unaffected rhythm, and Gustin Nash's script is frequently funny as it strives for a cutesy synthesis of Wes Anderson and <i>Ghost World</i>.
Shame that whenever Francois isn't on screen the movie reverts to a routine Cera-verse. Still, the sight of Cera being arrested in a woman's nightgown is somehow quite special.
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Underrated and misunderstood it seems. Youth in Revolt made me laugh consistently throughout, thanks mostly to the script and the great performance by Michael Cera. The supporting cast is impressive but are unnecessary, as Michael Cera carrys this film off by himself. A real breath of… More
Underrated and misunderstood it seems. Youth in Revolt made me laugh consistently throughout, thanks mostly to the script and the great performance by Michael Cera. The supporting cast is impressive but are unnecessary, as Michael Cera carrys this film off by himself. A real breath of fresh air amid the usual bile inducing teen films of late but then I think it's fair to say that this film is a little more universal than that, it's just been marketed badly. If you would rather watch American Pie type films then avoid this and watch the million sequels they've made instead. Then please shoot yourself. Youth in Revolt is brilliant.
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What starts out as an excercise in by-the-books hipster douchebaggery quickly becomes a smart, funny and quite "different" coming of age story with sporadic moments of hilarity. Colorful array of supporting players and a charming performance from Portia Doubleday highten the… More
What starts out as an excercise in by-the-books hipster douchebaggery quickly becomes a smart, funny and quite "different" coming of age story with sporadic moments of hilarity. Colorful array of supporting players and a charming performance from Portia Doubleday highten the material. Michael Cera is pretty good here too, in what is one of his best starring vehicles to date.
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Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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