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By Erik Davis* (reprint from TIFF '09 – 9/15/09)*
As with most of the popular-book-to-film adaptations, you can look at Youth in Revolt* *](Youth in Revolt (2009) - Movie | Moviefone)a couple of different ways: From the point of view of someone who has read the source material, and (of course) from the point of view of someone who hasn’t. C.D Payne’s epic, 499-page novel is to teenage angst what the bible is to Christianity – and it’s always sort of reminded me of what a sequel to The Catcher in the Rye might look like if it was set in modern-day (if somewhat outdated) Oakland – and featured a 14-year-old Frank Sinatra fanatic who would literally destroy an entire city if it meant winning over the girl of his dreams.
The problem withYouth in Revolt](Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp: Payne, C.D.: 9780385481960: Amazon.com: Books) (the book) is that it’s practically impossible to smash 499 pages of dark comedic brilliance into an hour and a half on the big screen, and, as such, Youth in Revolt (the film) definitely ends up feeling disjointed and forced in some areas – but thanks to a wickedly hilarious performance from Michael Cera (easily the best of his career), this brainy teenage sex comedy does manage to dole out a handful of great scenes, making it worthy of your hard-earned box office dollars … but only if you promise to read the book afterwards.