Amy's Robot

In Praise of Michael Cera

I'd like to take a moment to recognize what is one of the best and funniest elements of my very favorite TV show, Arrested Development: Michael Cera. Michael plays George Michael Bluth, the teenage son of Jason Bateman, and is easily the best teen actor I've ever seen on TV. There is no weak link to speak of on the show, but Michael Cera is magnificent, every single week. His timing is great, and he really seems to get the level of comedy that this show operates on, which is more than the rest of America is capable of, apparently.

But what I love the most about this actor is how willing he is to play the George Michael character as an awkward, anxious, uncomfortable, and often horribly embarrassed kid. Most teenagers, I would think, are too uncomfortable and self-conscious just being themselves to knowingly and skillfully make themselves look even more foolish and dorky. But not Michael Cera. Michael Cera will be the mortified teenager, and he understands that this is funny.

The scene from a Season 1 episode where he auditions for the school play so he can kiss his cousin Maeby? George Michael working the frozen banana stand? George Michael in the Sonny Bono costume that his grandmother makes him wear to the Motherboy dance? I'm telling you, this kid is a comic genius.

Michael Cera is Canadian, and before Arrested Development, he played the young Chuck Barris in the movie version of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

categories: TV
posted by amy at 11:17 AM | #