If a movie sells itself as the coming-of-age tale of an awkward teenage boy obsessively trying to lose his virginity, it had better offer an interesting twist on this tired and overused plot. ""Youth in Revolt,"" directed by Miguel Arteta, attempts to put a quirky and original spin on the overdone, panicky, adolescent quest for sex, wherever it can be found.
The film opens by introducing Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) as a hopelessly pretentious 16-year-old with one mission: to lose his virginity as soon as possible. Twisp is caught in his own mediocre middle-America existence when what he really longs for is a life of classical poetry and vinyl records. His divorced and promiscuous parents seem to represent both what he hopes to avoid, an ordinary life, and what he wants most, a sex life that extends well beyond the pages of magazines.
The plot starts to roll when Twisp takes a vacation with his mother (Jean Smart) and her live-in boyfriend, played disgustingly perfectly by the plump and furry Zach Galifianakis. While away, Twisp meets Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday), a confident girl whose obsession with obscure foreign films and all things French seems to align perfectly with his own affected interests. Naturally, he falls for the girl, but after he is threatened by her dazzling boyfriend, he decides it is time for a change in his life.
In enters Francois Dillinger, Twisp's outrageously rebellious alter ego, also played by Cera, who swaggers about with a crusty, prepubescent mustache and a smoking habit. The movie then follows Twisp and Dillinger along as they wreak havoc in an attempt to impress Saunders.
""Youth in Revolt"" certainly has its moments of hilarity. The supporting cast is filled with accomplished comedians. Fred Willard stands out as a neighbor harboring illegal immigrants, and Ray Liotta is hilariously creepy in his cameo as the cop who comforts Twisp's mother by staying the night.
The relationship between Cera's character and the girl he is violently pursuing also has promising comedic spark. When the two first connect in a duel of counterculture obscurity, their self-conscious sophisticated acts are a riot for any of us who read Kerouac too early or religiously update their Facebook music to reflect the best of indie pop.
However, there are too few of these sharp and observant moments. The film is mainly filled with juvenile, easy jokes and worn-out ideas. Cera, who essentially plays the same character in everything he is in, awkward yet endearing, seems to finally be at the end of his creative rope. Cera stands out in the ensemble casts of his past work in movies like ""Juno"" and the television series ""Arrested Development,"" but in ""Youth in Revolt,"" his classic act feels strained and exhausted.
""Youth in Revolt"" is amusing enough to keep you entertained for its 90-minute running time, but if you go in expecting more than a movie that's essentially ""American Pie"" meets ""Superbad,"" complete with recycled jokes and gimmicks, look elsewhere.
