Youth in Revolt

Adding to his collection of winning portrayals of quick-witted young men, Michael Cera (Juno) stars as Nick Twisp, a 16-year-old born on the trashy side of the Oakland tracks who hates his name almost as much as his life. Everyone Nick knows, including his divorced parents (Jean Smart and Steve Buscemi), gets more romantic action than him, but his luck changes when he meets junior femme fatale Sheeni (Portia Doubleday) during a vacation. Sheeni may have overprotective parents (Mary Kay Place and M. Emmet Walsh) and a preppy boyfriend back at school, but she also likes Jean-Paul Belmondo movies, Serge Gainsbourg records—and Nick. There's just one hitch: Sheeni prefers bad boys, so Nick creates a cynical, cigarette-smoking alter ego named François Dillinger to win her heart. Little does Nick realize, however, that he's playing with fire, since François gives him license to set his pent-up inhibitions free. Nick sneaks into Sheeni's private-school dorm, blows up his mother's boyfriend's car, and trips on magic mushrooms with Sheeni's burned-out brother and a radical family friend (Justin Long and Fred Willard). Director Miguel Arteta's adaptation of C.D. Payne's young-adult novel series offers equal parts sorrow and humor, sporting animated sequences that add a touch of whimsy, although there's something more disturbing than romantic about Twisp's manufactured multiple-personality disorder. Recommended, overall. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Miguel Arteta and star Michael Cera, deleted scenes (11 min.), audition footage of cast members Portia Doubleday, Zach Galifianakis, Erik Knudsen, Jonathan B. Wright, and Adhir Kalyan (8 min.), deleted and extended animation sequences (7 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the “movieIQ” trivia track and BD-Live function. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an offbeat film.] (K. Fennessy)