Youth in Revolt (2010)

Directed by Miguel Arteta / Written by Gustin Nash








[Note: This review was originally published on a platform that had a 5-star rating system.]


This is one of those moments when you really have to ponder where the line between four and five stars lies. I rarely rate any movie 5 stars: My standards are high and the movie really has to feel like a masterpiece of sorts. If a movie is perfectly good and well-made but doesn't leave me emotionally stirred and shaken, I give it 4. This applies to most drama, but comedies, oh comedies, they have rules of their own. If it makes me laugh, smile and giggle even while walking home from the cinema, it's got to be marvelous. Literally. I am a happy person, but it still takes a marvel to cheer me up. Thus the 5 stars; Besides being a quality movie, Youth in Revolt was genuinely funny, quirky and featured realistic characters. I really dislike the regular (teenage) romance comedies for being so sugary and written and ingenuine, but this was presented the way teenage affairs really are, even though the formula used was the traditional "geeky boy falls for a pretty girl but woe there be obstacles such as a sporty ex-boyfriend and christian fanatic parents". The notable difference here was that this time the pretty girl wasn't actually "out of his league" at all: They were both quite geeky and even the sporty ex wrote poetry (no matter how pretentuous), so they were, in fact, all in the same league. I loved the animated parts, so various techniques used and all still matching the story livening it up. Yay for a big ass movie for supporting the animation industry!