My favorite book of all time is Youth in Revolt, by CD Payne. I have probably read it upwards of 6 times (I re-read before each sequel came out, and again a few months ago when I found out the movie was coming) and have yet to find another book that equals it. I was anxious about the movie, as I was very aware that it could ruin the book for me. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could be, but obviously didn't live up to the book.

The main problem wasn't merely the absence of key characters. I felt the part that was based on Book 1, despite being abridged severely, was fairly true to the book and to the spirit of the characters. While there was a lot missing, none of it was very relevant beyond Book 1, and so it didn't interfere with my overall enjoyment of the movie.

However from the point where Nick moved up north (major inconsistency- Sheeni's one residence was at some points called Clear Lake and others called Ukiah), and worsening after the scene where he visited Sheeni at boarding school, so many essential characters and plot lines were missing, that the longer the movie went on, the more it fell apart. I watched it with two people who had never read the book, and both stated the same thing, that at a certain point it got very scattered and hard to follow.

Here are the missing pieces that made the end of the movie so hard to follow:

There was no Dwayne. Nick, after visiting Sheeni at the Meadowbrook place, begins sending Bernice the pills with no explanation of how he got them or where the idea came from. Not only that, but he has her drug Sheeni herself, not Taggarty, who's only role is to take Vijay's virginity.

There was no Apurva, and thus no plotting or conspiring in any way to weave the web that would eventually push Nick to the measures he took. Along the same note, Vijay's only role was to be the buddy on the trip to Santa Cruz. He never betrayed Nick in the movie, nor was it ever indicated that he wanted to make a play for Sheeni.

Then there was that weird movie scene that wasn't anywhere in the book, where Nick and his dad fought physically and he stole the BMW and pushed it off the embankment. Huh?

But the worst part was the way they wrote Carlotta into the story. In the book, Nick is in hiding from everyone other than Fuzzy (also missing from the book) and happens upon the perfect disguise. In the movie, the idea seems to come to him randomly, and he only dresses up to sneak past Sheeni's parents, who are the only ones he even tried to fool.

Pretty much the only element from Book 3 that is nodded to in the movie is that Nick wears a dress and a wig, and that he has sex with Sheeni.

The worst part is that the movie's ending is not only completely different, but goes against the grain of the essence of each major character. Sheeni realizes that it was Nick she was waiting for all along to rescue her from her dreary life, and Nick realizes that he never needed to be Francois, that "Nick Twisp was enough". Blech. Oh yeah, and all this while Nick is being carted off to Juvy, and yes, Sheeni seems intent on waiting for him.

So those were the major problems. Other peeves that didn't affect plot:

-No Wally Rumpkin
-we don't get to see Nick's ongoing disobedience in Oakland
-Albert is introduced and Nick does agree to take care of him, but is not a bargaining chip, nor does he elicit negative reactions from anyone other than Sheeni's parents. Also, he never dies or gets reincarnated.
-No Fuzzy, which does affect the plot I guess, as his absence causes Carlotta to exist in a vacuum.
-Lack of anything except a wig from Book 3

I will admit though, if I had never heard of the book I probably would have thought the movie was decent up until near the end.

-CRbE