Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) is a virgin, and with the way things are going, will always be a virgin. He's a quiet, good boy who puts up with a lot of crap from his trampy mum and her trucker boyfriend, all because he knows one day he'll be out of this hell hole. For now he just has to grin and bear it. But after meeting his dream girl in the form of Sheenie (Portia Doubleday), he decides a bit of teenage rebellion may be in order.
Sheenie is his muse, and he'll destroy anything she wants him to in order to fulfill her romanticised idea of life. She wants to live like a character from Breathless, and dreams of being swept of her feet by a roguish wild man. Nick thinks we can be that wild man. What has become painfully obvious to Nick is that chicks dig the bad boy, so he creates a supplementary persona for himself known as Francois Dillinger.
A lot has been said about Michael Cera and his on screen persona. Yes, he may just be playing a slightly exaggerated version of himself, but I still love watching the guy. Don't forget that as well as the archetypal Michael Cera role of Nick Twisp, here we also have him as Francois Dillinger, the greatest screen rebel since Tyler Durden. He's a nihilistic Jean-Paul Belmondo that can say the things you'd never see coming out of Nick Twisp's mouth. Maybe it's just the moustache. Francois is the perfect antidote for Cera's nebbishness, and as the division begins to fade, brings out the best qualities in Nick Twisp.
Director Miguel Arteta previously made Chuck and Buck, a film that drifted too far over into darkness for me, but here the balance is just right. There's the sardonic wit that was present in his Mike White collaborations, and the same Ferris-Bueller-with-a-library-card japery of Gustin Nash's previous script Charlie Bartlett. It's a teen comedy that will definitely not appeal to the masses, but a small select audience will find a lot to relate to.
This is a great film that should be used as a survival guide for all the nerdy kids out there without girlfriends. It captures the madness and bravery of teen romance in a way not seen since Rushmore, a film that watching this you're reminded of regularly. It's full of little cameo's from great actors, with Steve Buscemi and Ray Liotta being my own personal highlights. A delightfully smart mouthed coming of age comedy.
No comments:
Post a Comment