Youth in Revolt

Like any given episode of Family Guy, this adaptation of CD Payne’s novel is such a relentlessly cruel piece of work that you can’t help but laugh heartily at it. The insatiable libido of horndog high-schooler Nick Twisp (Cera) is the impetus for various scattershot misadventures that revolve around his desperate attempts to bed the Belmondo-loving Sheeni Saunders (Doubleday). She’s a sharp-tongued inspiration in Nick’s otherwise soul-deadening existence, constantly prodding him to come out of his shell and let his freak flag fly. And so it does, when Nick creates François Dillinger (also Cera), a more suavely confident and seemingly corporeal alter ego who wreaks havoc wherever he goes.

As this snake-tongued doppel-gänger, Cera sports a pencil-thin moustache, lasciviously brandishes a cigarette and embodies a perfect parody of adolescent wish-fulfilment. He’s also a profane little f**ker: In Youth in Revolt’s funniest scene – set in that comic goldmine, an all-girl boarding school – the two Ceras share screen space, as François coaches Nick on the proper, most vulgar ways to seduce Sheeni. It’s a kick to see Cera cut loose from his patented befuddled-nerd routine, even if the film’s caricatured performances and fish-in-a-barrel scorn are sure to be monotonous for some. Keith Uhlich