Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Moofies - Youth In Revolt (2009)

EXPECTATIONS: Michael Cera plays awkward teenage boy for the bazillionth time, although he also plays opposite himself as a super cool sleaze bag. This could be great.

REALITY: I didn't hate this.

Cera plays Nick Twisp, a quirky teenage boy who listens to Sinatra records and is obsessed with losing his virginity. Nick's Mum and her boyfriend take him to a trailer park for a little holiday trip where he meets the sexy Sheeni Saunders and falls in love. Eventually Nick has to go home, so in order to move in with his father who lives closer to Sheeni, Nick must become a bad boy and do bad things in order to be kicked out by his Mum. Nick is very much a straight, good boy so he calls on his alter ego Francois Dillinger to become his evil influence.

This is almost as infuriating as Juno in its quirky "I'm sooo cool"-ness, but it occasionally holds back on the quirk factor and lets the story and characters take centre stage. There are a myriad of great cast members with small parts, my favourite being Ray Liotta as the cop who hits on Nick's Mum, and Michael Cera is honestly excellent as two personas, showing that he can actually act, but this never felt much more than a film begging to be precious and loved. I laughed a lot, and it was fun, but once was enough.

***

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