Usually when a film has been sitting on the studio shelf for over a year and shuffled through various release dates, only to get dumped in theaters in early January, it is a sign that the film is a total dog. Fortunately, this is not the case with Youth in Revolt. It was merely a victim of the financial troubles of the film's fledgling distributor, Dimension Films. This is a smart, frequently very funny, and offbeat coming of age love story that gets a lot of mileage out of a great cast, and some creative touches that indie filmmaker Miguel Arteta (Chuck and Buck) gives the film.

Based on a series of novels by C.D. Payne, Youth in Revolt introduces us to a teenager named Nick Twisp (Michael Cera). He tells us in his opening narration that he hates his last name. "It sounds like an evil nurse at some mental hospital", he says. There's a lot of things that Nick hates about himself and his life. He hates that his mom (Jean Smart) always has a new boyfriend every few weeks. Her latest catch, Jerry (Zach Galifanakis), is a pathological liar and con artist. He hates that people are always looking down on him because he's smart, and would rather watch a classic Italian movie than the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Most of all, he hates that he has never been in a romantic relationship with a girl. That all changes when Jerry takes Nick and his mom on a last minute family vacation to a trailer park, so he can avoid some sailors who want to kill him for selling them a broken down car. It's at this trailer park that Nick meets the lovely Sheeni Saunders (bright young newcomer, Portia Doubleday). She shares the same interests as Nick, and seems like the girl he has dreamed of all of his life. Unfortunately, she's only into rebellious French guys. Besides that, various obstacles strive to keep them apart.

Nick returns home, and is determined to get back to Sheeni at any cost. His estranged birth father (Steve Buscemi) lives near where Sheeni does, so if he could somehow live with him, all his problems would be solved. He decides that if he's ever going to be with his true love, he's going to have to get kicked out of his mom's house by rebelling against authority. In order to inspire him, Nick creates a bad boy alter ego to help. This is Francois Dillinger. He looks exactly like Nick (he's also played by Cera), except he has a pencil-thin mustache, and he doesn't take nothing from anybody. With the help and advice of this imaginary alter ego, Nick manages to raise enough hell that mom and her latest boyfriend (Ray Liota) can't take it anymore. He's sent to live with his dad, only to learn that Sheeni's God-fearing parents have sent her to live in a French boarding school, due to the fact they think Nick is a bad influence on her. Not only that, the police are on Nick's trail, after an accident he tried to cause so his mom would kick him out ended up destroying part of the town.

Youth in Revolt is frequently very funny, and blessed with a cast who know how to handle this material. They're deadpan, and don't play up the laughs. Michael Cera is obviously a master at this kind of dry humor, so he's perfect in the lead role as Nick, as well as his "bad boy" alter ego. The rest of the cast is equally strong. Aside from the actors mentioned, the cast also includes Justin Long as Sheeni's brother who has a thing for mushrooms, Mary Kay Place and M. Emmet Walsh as Sheeni's strict parents, and Fred Willard as Nick's bizarre neighbor. The cast makes this film work. In the wrong hands, I could easily imagine this movie coming across as being pretentious or overly broad. But everybody here finds the right tone. The embrace the film's dry and sometimes off the wall humor, but they don't really react to it. This is a movie that never draws attention to itself, and I loved it for it.

I admired a lot of the unique, creative touches that director Arteta uses to tell the story. There are some clever and well done animated sequences placed throughout, as well as some very funny voice overs from Nick. These help the movie stand out, and prevent it from becoming a cliche. I also liked the slowly building relationship between Nick and Sheeni. It's love at first sight for him, while she likes him enough at first, but wants things to build between them. Portia Doubleday is a real find as the female lead. She only has two previous film credits (one of them being something called Legend of the Mummy), and I think this could be a star-making role for her. She gives Sheeni this sweet, yet independent nature that grabs our attention. She's also attractive, and has good chemistry with the rest of the cast. Hopefully Hollywood will use her to the fullest of her talents.
I have some questions if this will find an audience during its theatrical run. It's very laid back, and sometimes feels like an independent art house comedy that somehow managed to get a wide release. However, I can easily see Youth in Revolt becoming the cult classic it deserves to be on DVD. This is the rare comedy that understands that it's funnier when the audience are reacting to the jokes, and the actors are not.

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