There are two kinds of people in this world: those who love Michael Cera and those who hate Michael Cera. As time has gone on, the number of people in the former group seems to grow and grow. I, myself, happen to be part of the first group. Michael Cera broke-out on the criminally under-appreciated television series, Arrested Development, and then found stardom in the movies with two critical and box-office hits, Superbad and Juno. This was only in 2007. Then he responded to stardom like any other young man would, jump at lots of money to make shitty movies: Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Year One. After that he was in small critical successes that no one paid to watch: Youth in Revolt and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Those two films were in 2009 and 2010. He hasn’t been seen in a movie since. In a five year period he has gone from break-out to just…out. So, what the hell ever happened to Michael Cera?
Many of his biggest critics have voiced their opinion of becoming bored and annoyed by Cera’s performances. They say that all his performances are the same: the awkward, tentative outcast. First breaking out in Arrested Development, Cera gave an endearing performance over three seasons as George Michael Bluth, the awkward, caring son of protagonist Michael Bluth, played by Jason Bateman. Now, George Michael was plagued by many awkward moments growing up: falling in love with his cousin, having an ugly girlfriend his dad didn’t care for, and selling frozen bananas out of his grandfather’s frozen banana stand. All through, though, Cera gave weight to the character and made viewers care. A character that could have easily slipped into a caricature of a dorky nerd was given weight by Cera and became a character we felt for as he was plagued by the awkwardness of growing up in his dysfunctional family.
Then, Cera found his footing in the movies with two of 2007’s biggest surprise hits, Superbad and Juno. Cera gave his usual great work in the comedy Superbad as Evan, a high school boy with morals and crushes. His comedic timing was always a strong point for Cera, but in Superbad he was able to portray caring and affection for both his best friend, Seth1; and crush, Becca. When Cera’s Evan finally gets the chance to sleep with Becca he comes through in a great scene without giving to say much. The disappointment he shows for himself, Becca, and the situation is written all over Cera’s face.
His best dramatic work that year, though, came in Juno. As Bleeker, the father of the baby, Cera comes through as down-to-earth and innocent as the boy with the unrequited love for his best friend, Juno, played by Ellen Page. The moment Cera touches Juno’s belly and his face lights up at the feeling of the baby’s kick, and he realizes that what’s in there is half him, is priceless2. Then as he lies with Juno after she had given birth, holding her, Cera made you feel like he would never let go.
Cera, unfortunately, delved into making crap movies. Year One and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist are cheap laughs and Cera mails in two of his vintage, awkward comedic roles. This might be where the stigma against Cera came from.
Last, Cera gave his two most important performances. The bad news is they ended up being his two last ones. Even worse, no one cared enough to go see them. A new Cera comes out in Youth in Revolt and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. He plays the protagonist in both, and yes, the awkward, tentative teen boy is still there and so is his top-notch comedic timing, but it’s the strength and confidence he brings to both these movies that sets them apart. Just a Cera was turning the corner with his acting, the bottom fell out. He hasn’t been in a movie since.
Last time most people heard from Michael Cera was when he was living out of his car and giving an interview to Rolling Stone magazine. He seemed like a lost soul and someone who had never fit in, in Hollywood or the real world. The worst part of this is that it didn’t have to be like this.
Many grew tired of Cera’s awkward, funny boy. They weren’t paying attention, and thought that was all he was capable of. They thought he could only play himself. Another young actor who faced the same criticism early on in his career was Jesse Eisenberg. Breaking out in 2009, Eisenberg starred in Adventureland and Zombieland. In those two films Eisenberg plays the awkward, tentative, funny boy. If you switched out Jesse Eisenberg and inserted Michael Cera there would be no difference. The films would be the same. Then came Eisenberg’s Academy Award-nominated turn as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the The Social Network. In it, Eisenberg shows the same awkward, tentative boy, but also brings the strength we saw Cera bring in Youth in Revolt and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Am I saying that Cera could have turned in a performance as strong as Eisenberg, maybe, but the real point I want to make here is that there is no reason that Eisenberg should have so much success and Cera be left out in the cold.
Cera will hopefully make his triumphant return to the big screen in an Arrested Development movie, if the project ever gets off the ground. One can only hope that it will have the same effect Arrested Development had on Cera’s career early on. If it does, and Cera is able to rise from the ashes of what is now a stagnant career, it won’t be long before Cera has his two groups of fans back: those who love Michael Cera and those who always loved Michael Cera.
- Cera’s verbal-sparring with Jonah Hill is a thing of beauty. Both have great comedic timing and their personas are so drastically different that they are fun to watch.
- Even more impressive, Cera had to fake all of it. There was no baby, no kick. It was just a prosthetic belly that Page was wearing. He had to pretend like he felt a kick and become emotionally invested in a piece of rubber. Wow.