GustinNash Tagged Articles at Cinematical

As with most of the popular-book-to-film adaptations, you can look at Youth in Revolt 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sort of reminded me of what a sequel to The Catcher in the Rye might look like if it was set in modern-day (if somewhat outdated) Oakland -- and featured a 14-year-old Frank Sinatra fanatic who would literally destroy an entire city if it meant winning over the girl of his dreams.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 with Youth in Revolt (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.

I'm sure I've already told you how Youth in Revolt is one of my favorite books of all time. And I'm sure, since I last wrote about it, a bunch of you have gone out and picked it up. Right? Revolt tells the story of 14-year-old (though they've aged him up to 17 for the film) Nick Twisp; a story that follows him (through personal journals) going to the greatest lengths imaginable just to score his dream girl, Sheeni Saunders. Amidst the madness, Nick (who will be played by Michael Cera) jumps between his two divorced parents, one of which (the filthy, sex-obsessed father) will be played by the very awesome Steve Buscemi. Variety tells us Ray Liotta and Jean Smart have also joined the cast, and though they don't say, The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Liotta will play Nick's mother's psychotic boyfriend, while we assume Smart will play the poor kid's neurotic mom.

It's nice to see The Weinstein Co. have made this flick a priority; currently, they're at Cannes trying to secure foreign markets. Youth in Revolt is an incredibly hard book to adapt, and earlier this year I spoke to screenwriter Gustin Nash (Charlie Bartlett) a bit about the difficulties of adapting and trimming Youth in Revolt for the big screen. One thing we did touch upon was how the book's second greatest character was still yet to be cast: Sheeni Saunders. As Nick's love interest, Sheeni carries the combined traits of every girl you've ever had a crush on: she's pretty, she's smart, she's devilish and she knows just how to get what she wants, when she wants, how she wants it. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a good young actress for the role. You?

Under New Line, Michael Shamberg and Stacy Sher are getting ready to produce a new romantic comedy written by Gustin Nash (Charlie Bartlett) called Missed Connections, according to Variety. No, it's not about a bunch of tardy people who miss their connecting flights. Nor is it about a fiery connect-the-dots tournament. Instead, it's about a bunch of people searching for the holy grail of love and friendship on the world of the Internet -- or, rather "in an era of instant communication," but I assume that means the net. Will they not get an important e-mail until too late? Or, maybe they miss a connection between their object of online affection and their own life. You can play the degree game (like Kevin Bacon's) all over the web, with yourself at the center, and I think we've all heard that cautionary tale of the girl who fell for a guy online, but was mighty surprised to see who he was when they met in a hotel room.

But it probably won't dip that much into the darker comedy. Sher asks: "The question is how do you fall in love at a time when people are growing less intimate despite being more connected?" Shamberg is comparing it to two of his previous projects -- The Big Chill and Reality Bites. Will it include a bunch of old friends hardened by the real world? Will a Lelaina struggle to find a job, but misuse 'irony' in an electronic letter, and then rue the fact that Troy is so darned distant as he slacks with other disenchanted grads online? How would you throw all of these thematic bits together?