"Youth in Revolt" Movie Trailer #2 Review

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

It's funny how big a difference there can be between two trailers for the same film. The first trailer for the upcoming Michael Cera comedy, "Youth in Revolt," didn't impress me in the least. I thought it looked far more juvenile than Cera's films tend to be and it seemed too over-the-top for my taste. The most recently released trailer, however, is a different story, and I can't help but think the first trailer was simply an attempt at appealling to an audience that the film isn't meant for.

The film seems to work both as a comedy and as a satire of Cera's film persona thus far in his career. His character, Nick Twisp, is very much the awkward, soft-spoken person we know so well from "Superbad" and "Arrested Development," but this time around its isolating him from the world around him. He's too weak to stand up for himself and he's not risky or confident enough for the girl he's in love with, Sheeni Saunders, to have any interest in him romantically. So he decides to finally do something about it--he creates an alternate persona, one that is dangerous, courageous, and just what Sheeni wants. He calls the persona "Francois," who is embodied in the film by Cera with a mustache, and he is slowly led down a path of destruction, both of himself and everything around him.

Cera seems to be bringing his typical charm to the role, thankfully this time not allowing it to become stale and going for something different by portraying both Nick and Francois. He's surrounded by a generally excellent cast, including Steve Buscemi, Justin Long and Zack Galifianakis (best known lately for "The Hangover," but his work in stand-up and with comedy duo Tim & Eric is what I love him for). The director, Miguel Arteta, is well-known for "The Good Girl," for which he received a good deal of acclaim, and which suggests there may be more to this film than comedy. There may be a good deal of actual dramatic weight to the whole affair, which would be even more refreshing for Cera.

So the new trailer suggests a lot more subtlety and originality than the first, but it's still wise to maintain middling expectations under the circumstances--Cera hasn't had a great piece of work for a while, and Arteta hasn't directed since 2002. Still, it has great potential.

The film is set for release January 15, 2010.

View the new trailer for "Youth in Revolt" below.  Thoughts?