I watched Scott Pilgrim for the second time today... count me as someone who's in favor of it.

I thought it had a couple of flaws that I can see people not being able to get over... some of the jokes tried way too hard (i.e. Vegan police), and the heavy reliance on referencing video games--while didn't bother me-- it sure isn't going to change the face of moviemaking (at least that's what it seems like some people assume...). But... I mean, it features Michael Cera using random superpowers fighting dudes who come out of nowhere and sometimes have a choreographed song and dance number for the occasion. So I can't not enjoy it.

The reason I'm taking time to mention this was that I found Michael Cera surprisingly tolerable in this.

I probably got sick of him around the same time everyone else did, which must have been around... hmm, apparently he played a young Sam Rockwell in Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind--that's pretty cool... I don't know, 2008 or so. Which I think might have been a reason why this bombed at the box office--cause if you're basing a movie off of name recognition alone, he's going to create quite a tough mountain to climb.

But here he was... not annoying. I mean, he's still playing a variation of himself essentially, but it's one we haven't seen before--and it's probably closest to his actual personality anyway. He's still kind of a dork, but... people seem to think he's cool to be around. He's most likely not a virgin (I mean, he has had multiple girlfriends... don't think he's ever started with more than 0). Most of the conversations he has are not completely overwrought in awkwardness. This is a good thing.

Compare it to something like Youth In Revolt (which wasn't very good...), where he's playing two characters--one of which is just Michael Cera, the other the COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF ALL OF HIS CHARACTERS EVER... and it just rang as a little bit forced to me. He couldn't pull off the suave ladies' man because he isn't that type of guy (or at least his onscreen persona isn't that type... I'm sure in real life he has absolutely no problems), and in the end the same old Michael Cera character wins out anyway.

I don't know. I'm always going to be more of a fan of guys like Bill Murray who essentially play variations of himself rather than the Sean Penns who will play everything just to prove they can pull it off. Not that I'm equating Mr. Cera with anyone, but... I know everyone's sick of his persona, and I can't say that this movie changed my overall apathy for his film career, but he should stick to what he knows, instead of trying to go against type just to stave off critics.

Just maybe don't always take the role where you're the most awkward person on the planet.