In the beginning, Cera is just high-schooler Nick Twisp, a character as harmless and forgettable as his name suggests. He has unusual tastes for someone his age -- foreign films, astronomy, the music of Frank Sinatra -- and a conservative style of dress, none of which is doing him any favors. But after meeting Sheeni, a smart, seductive film buff, while on vacation in Michigan, Nick makes a pact with her to somehow get himself moved to her area, so they can be together. It's surprisingly easy to get his unemployed father a job in town, but to get himself sent to live with his father he needs to become a different person. He needs to become French.

This is where Francois comes in. With a mustache, a collared shirt, tight-fitting slacks and only the barest hint of an accent, Francois is Nick's Tyler Durden, sometimes standing beside him, sometimes sitting in for him, but always speaking the words that need to be said, the ones Nick can't quite bring himself to say, and doing what needs to be done. And smoking. Although the scenes are successfully played for laughs, Cera as Francois is focused with an intensity disguised as indifference, like a French laser beam. ("But of course I am burning your hand. Je suis un laser, n'est ce pas?") Even after their Project Chaos is accomplished and Cera is sent to Michigan, new obstacles and challenges arise, and Francois is time and again called into action, berating Nick for his weakness each time, and usually leaving him on the side of the road in his underwear. In short, Francois is awesome, and Cera should totally fight Superman in his next movie.

The rest of the cast is equally hilarious: Jean Smart plays his mom, who lives off of child support payments and dates a truck driver played by Zach Galifianakis. (She later moves up to Ray Liotta as a cop.) Nick's dad is Steve Buscemi, who is dating a much younger woman, and Nick's neighbor is an anti-government radical played by Fred Willard. Newcomer Portia Doubleday's Sheeni is part heavenly angel, part Lolita as the continental daughter of religious parents (Mary Kay Place and M. Emmet Walsh), and Justin Long is... actually kind of scary as her subversive pothead brother. The star of Aliens in America, Adhir Kalyan, has a small role as well, playing a schoolmate of Nick's.

All in all, the film is much better than one might expect, given Cera's previous outings, and director Miguel Arteta infuses it with a quirkiness that shows in the stop-motion and and photo-collaged driving sequences. The story, based on the book of the same name, may have its Superbad moments (like a sex-seeking visit to a girls' dorm), but the romance-and-sabotage plot, combined with the indie/retro soundtrack, give it a very Rushmore feel, and there are much worse movies to resemble than Rushmore.

Check out our guide to Michael Cera's Single Role, watch exclusive video of Michael vs. dueling interviewers and let us know what you thought of the movie below.