On the first night of its national release, "Youth in Revolt" — shot partly in Ann Arbor and Brighton, among other Michigan locations, in the summer of 2008 — drew a near-capacity crowd to Quality 16 for a 7:30 p.m. screening.

Everyone interviewed for this story noted how fun it was to spot familiar locales in the film. But two filmgoers (sisters Kelsey and Liza Reynolds of Brighton), when asked what they liked about the film, looked at each other and summed up their positive experience by saying, in unison, "Michael Cera" — the film's young star.

Kelsey graduated from Brighton High School last year, while Liza is currently a sophomore at the school. "I was there the day that they filmed the scene with the high school," said Kelsey, while Liza tried to spot Bishop Lake while watching the movie, "because we run there."

"It's exciting," said Kelsey. "I really like what they're doing with the filming in Michigan."

"Youth"'s young star played a significant role in bringing author and University of Michigan professor Eileen Pollack out to "Youth" on Friday night, too. A few months ago, Pollack was in Zingerman's Roadhouse when she spotted a familiar-looking young man in line ahead of her. She initially thought he must be a former student of hers, then realized he was Cera.

"I was very cool," said Pollack. "I wanted him to think that everybody in Ann Arbor sees movie stars all the time. But then some girls went over to his table and were taking his picture with their cell phones."

Despite Pollack's brush with "Youth"'s star, it was her friend's arm-twisting to see the film that sealed the deal.

"I thought it was going to be goofy, but I liked it," said Pollack.

"I saw the trailers and I thought, 'Wow, this is a cut above,'" said Pollack's friend, Marian Krzyzowski, director of U-M's Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy. "This is not a 'Porky's.'"

Also coming out for "Youth"'s opening night was a MeetUp.com group of about 20 who call themselves Ann Arbor Film Fans.

Plymouth's Megan Boyle, who works in retail, had lots of praise for "Youth." "I liked it a lot," she said. "I enjoyed it the whole way through. And I knew there had been a lot of (local filming), so I think that was part of the reason it drew a lot of us out here."

"I was looking at the trees when (Cera) was running through the forest and thinking, ‘Yeah, that looks like Michigan foliage,'" said Ann Arbor-based property manager (and MeetUp group member) Janet Seeburger.

Many people interviewed for this article heard others in the theater talking about personal ties to the film: a daughter who worked as an extra, a family who owned a trailer in the park where much of the shooting took place and got to meet the cast.

But above and beyond these links, everyone I talked to had nothing but good things to say about their experience with the film.

"It was a little edgier than you’d normally expect, and not as broad," said MeetUp group member Scott McWhinnie, an environmental consultant who lives in Ann Arbor.

"When I think of teen movies, I think of 'Twilight,'" added Seeburger. "But this one — I had fun."

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.