User Reviews

Greetings again from the darkness. Writer Diablo Cody and Director Jason Reitman reunite for the first time since their breakout hit "Juno". In that fine film, we were treated to many optimistic and sarcastic life lessons from a very likable, and easy to cheer for, teenage girl. This time around we get the caustic, childlike self-centeredness of a mid-30's alcoholic sadly trying to recapture the magic of her high school years as the prom queen dating the coolest guy.

Ms. Cody and Mr. Reitman deserve much credit for steering clear of the Hollywood traditions of redemption, remorse, and turning over a new leaf. In fact, we probably dislike Mavis (Charlize Theron) even more as the movie ends than we did in the film's first 5 minutes, if that's even possible. It takes courage as a filmmaker to have a lead character who is disliked through the entire movie, not just by the people in her life, but also by the audience. It also takes a special actress to pull this off. If you saw Theron in her Oscar winning role in "Monster", believe me when I say that she is equally unsympathetic here ... though she does commit fewer actual crimes.

This film is erroneously marketed as a smart comedy. While there are some funny elements, it's difficult to find much humor in someone who is so unstable and narcissistic. Wisely, the script provides us with Matt (Patton Oswalt) as the voice of reason. He sees through the Mavis mask and speaks directly in his attempts to divert her from her plan. That plan is to break up the marriage of her high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). Oh yeah, he just happens to be happily married (Elizabeth Reaser) with a newborn baby.

The best scenes of the film are between Mavis and Matt. She is oblivious to her negative effect on others, while he shoots her straight while avoiding his own harsh reality. See, Matt was the victim of a vicious hate crime, which left his leg (and other things) mangled. His own view of life is why he can see right through Mavis and her issues. While I so admire the basis of the script, I just believe there is a missing element. The element of hope and optimism. Heck, even when Mavis admits she "might be an alcoholic", her parents shrug it off and change topics. Sometimes crying out for help just isn't enough.

The film is worth seeing for the performances of Theron and Oswalt, as well as for the unique script. Just don't get tricked into believing it's some laugh riot with a fairy tale ending. Mavis is a ghost writer for teen novels, and she writes the latest as she lives this nightmare of a trip back home. My only real question ... is she mature enough to write for teens?

Depressed upon discovering that her former high school beau is happily married with an infant daughter, a young adult fiction writer sets out to win her old boyfriend back in this dark comedy from Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody. For a film marketed as a comedy, the laughs are few and far between, but that is not necessarily a bad thing as 'Young Aduilt' challenges one to think about whether what the authoress is going through is humorous, sad, pathetic, absurd or all of the above. Given how despicable her character is (wanting to tear apart a happy marriage; constantly dismissing an injured former classmate), Charlize Theron miraculously comes off as sympathetic the whole way through. It takes some suspension of disbelief to accept that she really does think that her plan will work, but Theron is always convincing in her quiet scenes and her growing sense of longing and regret is easy to relate to. What also works quite well is how Theron realises for the first time on her quest that the popularity of her book series is truly declining. Her world seems to be coming apart at the seams, and there is also a lot to like in how she uses her quest as fuel for penning her final novel at the same time. The book series is what she has used in order to delude herself into believing that she is still young, and with it on the decline, she finally has to grow up. 'Young Adult' is really a very apt title for the film in this regard. Patton Oswalt delivers has a solid supporting turn here too, but this is Theron's film the whole way as she renders her sour character with a nefarious plan utterly human.

Young Adult is Diablo Cody's latest utterly refreshing attempt on the life of a once-famous high school queen who was facing challenges in her life. The renowned writer of Juno is making a entirely different attempt here by depicting a mid-life crisis of Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) and her return visit to her hometown where she lived when she was a teenager.

Mavis hated the town, hated everything about it, hated all the people in it, that was, except Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson), who used to be her boyfriend. It didn't take her long to decide that she would return and rescue Buddy who she thought was a hostage in the deadly town with his marriage and newborn daughter. She would save herself from the disappointment from her life, save Buddy from the living hell, and picked up where things ended, once and for all.

And well, you expected it. Things were not as simple as that; they never are. So get ready for the adventure in this visit and get ready to know our Mavis better.

Charlize Theron totally manipulated the role of Mavis, letting the audience get to know who Mavis Gary really was as the events continued to unfold. It was a solid, realistic and Oscar-worthy performance that blew the audience away.

Young Adult is about life, about the past and the present, about why people are easily stuck in the past and do not see a future ahead of them. This is about why we should accept the present and look forward instead of always looking back. It is also more of a drama than a comedy but still it did give me some laughs.

'Young Adult' is the fourth feature of Jason Reitman, whose movies have always had a refreshing indie feel. When I look back to his filmography, I think they all have these protagonists who are in process of self- discovery. Over the course of events, they found the new one/lost one of themselves. 'Young Adult' also joins this culture.

Marvis Gary, played confidently by Charlize Theron, is an adult writer of 'Y.A. (Young Adult/Teen) Literature' living in a big city, far away from home for a long time. Her daily routine seems to be like all the lonely writers- writing, sleeping, eating, drinking, and then sleeping again. Course changes when she receives an invitation from her ex, Buddy, for a baby naming ceremony and then she is back, back to the memories of her 'glorious' past, as she likes to think of it. Marvis has always been a popular girl in high school, we learn that from numerous conversations. Now she is a struggling (her series is about to be canceled) writer living alone in a city and dealing with a recent divorce. It's no surprise that she wants to relive her popularity and more specifically, get his ex back. I think, because of living in this teenage world while writing literature and also having fame during here teenage, she's still stuck in that phase. She's still a 'young adult.' Which might be the reason why she still thinks that life can change the tracks and get her and Buddy back, like in the movies. We learn that Buddy is a happily married man and a father. And soon, over the course of events, Marvis also comes out of her illusion and teenage dreams and faces reality. Like I said, it ends with a self-discovery.

Reitman knows what he's doing. Like all of his other movies, he doesn't try to stuff you up with heavy emotions. Even the most melodramatic events would be presented with a light and refreshing approach in his movies. That's where his vision stands out. And Charlize Theron does a wonderful job supplementing Jason Reitman's vision.

Late-thirties, hard-drinking writer Mavis Gary has ghost authored several young adult novels, but her life in Minneapolis is hardly stable. Although she escaped her hometown years ago, a brief contact with her old high school boyfriend Buddy Slade (now married and a newborn father) gives her a sudden epiphany that they're meant to be together, and she decides to return home-despite her clear disdain for everything and everyone there. Upon her return, she finds an unexpected confidant in Matt Freehauf, a former high school classmate who was once erroneously the victim of a hate crime. A character study of a character you really wouldn't want to know, this is interesting early on and funny in spots, but the longer it goes on the clearer it becomes that there isn't any real poignancy or insight, nor does there seem to be a true learning curve for the central character. Theron fearlessly brings this deeply flawed protagonist to life, but her toxic personality and delusional single-mindedness make it difficult to accompany her on her journey, and despite some good supporting work from Oswalt it all feels bathed in negativity. **

This is one of those films you read about and really look forward to; but, once seen, you realize that, while good, it's not quite worthy of the build up.

Charlize Theron is quite good and makes the most of the script she has to work with. As always, hers eyes, facial expression and body language all help her bring life to the role.

Patton Oswalt also does a star turn as a bit of conscience for Charlize's character.

The story is well told, albeit a bit of a stretch. For someone reaching back to her past for a lost love, Charlize's character is quite believable; it's her long ago beau, Patrick Wilson, that's not quite up to snuff. Given that these two play off each other for a great deal of the film, it would be nicer to have had a better performer opposite her.

That said, it's worth watching, though probably a bit depressing for many viewers.

Without an iota of irony, Charlize Theron finally uses her intimidating beauty for pure Machiavellian evil, and the results are fortuitous in this dark-hued 2011 comedy, the latest collaboration of director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody ("Juno"). She's absolutely spot-on terrific playing Mavis Gary, the condescending, hateful high school girl who comes back to Mercury, her podunk hometown nearly two decades later. Mavis is no Blanche Dubois-type character whose ladylike beauty has faded into a gauzy romantic delusion. No, Mavis is still one hot babe and very much the complete narcissist she was as a teenager, emotionally stunted despite her relative worldliness having moved to Minneapolis to become a ghostwriter of a series of teen novels.

It's not surprising she finds success writing for an adolescent audience since she still defines her life with teenage-level priorities and fantasies. As she has proved with "Juno", Cody is thoroughly fluent with this perspective, but the twist is that this time, it's coming from a jaded 37-year-old woman. Even though Mavis is a divorcée who lives in a high-rise apartment with a toy dog and can easily get any man she wants, she is triggered by a birth announcement email she receives from her high school sweetheart Buddy Slade and becomes fixated on getting him back all these years later. It doesn't matter that he's happily married and perfectly content living in Mercury. She concocts a scheme to make herself so alluring that he will want to run away with her. Normally, this would be an excuse for broad comedy machinations, but Theron is so gorgeous that it makes her shameless attempts at seduction all the more edgily desperate.

It's a narrowly developed plot for sure, but surprisingly, what enriches the proceedings is the unexpected relationship Mavis develops with Matt Freehauf, a sad-sack former classmate whose sole claim to notoriety was being the victim of a hate crime when he was beaten up and left for dead by a group of jocks who assumed he was gay. He has been left crippled, living in Mercury with his sister making his own home-brewed bourbon and putting together mix-and-match action figures. That Mavis and Matt connect is all the more intriguing since they were at opposite ends of the social spectrum back in school, and their present-day bond is also fueled by her obvious alcoholism, a point that is overlooked by her befuddled parents who wish to think of Mavis as the flawless pretty daughter of their own deluded fantasies. The story evolves in the direction you would expect but not before certain revelations come to light in a tortuous scene at the baby-naming party Buddy and his sensible wife Beth have with all their relatives and close friends in attendance.

Beyond Theron's fearless work and intentionally deadpan line delivery, there is comedian Patton Oswalt's surprisingly affecting performance as Matt. I only know him from his recurring role as a comical sad-sack on the sitcom "King of Queens", so it's surprising to see the amount of texture he brings to this role. As Buddy, Patrick Wilson once again plays the sought-after himbo, but this time, his character's unshaven, small-town modesty comes across as more contrite with his character's feelings toward Mavis left quite elliptical. Elizabeth Reaser ("Sweet Land") isn't given that much to do as Beth, probably by intention, but Collette Wolf has a few impactful moments as Matt's insulated sister still idolizing Mavis after all these years. As he showed with "Juno" and "Up in the Air", Reitman shows a deft hand with actors playing flawed characters who try to manipulate their circumstances but fall short of their vaunted expectations.

These kind of stories about loosers dont get made a lot. NOT a crowd pleaser. Dont think for a second you will get to see Charlize Theron in any kind of hot or glamorous scenes. She plays a character that is dead inside. Mentally scarred for life. But she is unaware of it. She is about to find out though when she revisits her old highschool friends.

Some movies are simply a kick in my gut. This is one of those. I would not recommend it to any of my friends who want to be entertained. BUT if one wants to see a really true to life story about PAIN and ISOLATION then this is the movie for you...

"Enjoy..."

Radiohead's hit 'Creep' seems to have inspired this whole movie. The main character is the definition of a creep and then there's another character that tags along with her that is a weirdo. It all makes sense now.

The best thing about this movie has to be Theron's performance. She's a great actress with obviously the most intriguing personality and makes the movie entertaining enough to not move from your seat.

However, I think the movie lacks from becoming truly interesting. The plot becomes boring and predictable after the first 20 minutes and the evolution is considerably slow.

It is far from being a great movie but thankfully it is not that long that you find yourself you can't even bear one more second of it. Instead it is quite appealing from the main's character pov and you find yourself wanting to know more about her.

This film is highly recommended.

Finally a holiday movie comes along that dares to ask, " Can a high school prom queen steal her happily married ex-boyfriend from his wife and newborn child and find true love? " From the team that brought us the classic comedy, Juno, comes the wickedly entertaining, and to some, offensive Young Adult.

Directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody, this dark comedy explores the aspirations of a beautiful, vain, and selfish woman as she schemes to breakup a marriage and reclaim her former sweetheart, Buddy. Now divorced, Mavis Gary ( Charlize Theron ), a ghostwriter of teen literature conveniently found in the YA section of bookstores everywhere, has never grown up and never had the life she felt destined to have. ( After all, she was voted Best Hair in her high school yearbook! ) Her life is in ruins, an eternal victim of herself. She decides to return to her small hometown hoping to snare her former sweetheart ( nicely downplayed by Patrick Wilson ) and with that in mind, live some of the glories of her past life. As Mavis mentions in one scene, "Love conquers all. "Haven't you seen The Graduate? " She lives in a fantasy world, clouded by booze.

Giving her a reality check about her plans is a dweeb from the past, Matt Freehauf ( Patton Oswalt ), whom Mavis meets at a local bar. She doesn't so much rekindle their friendship as she never had time for him before, just not in her league back then. "Oh, you're that hate crime guy," she says when they meet. Insensitive, yes. That's Mavis, and yes, Matt was permanently injured in a gay hate crime during his senior year, although he wasn't gay at all. Shades of irony! ( Not that there's anything wrong with that, yada, yada!) Alcohol (and there's plenty in use when Mavis is around ) brings these two lost souls together, that and Mavis' far- fetched dreaming.

Theron has the difficult role of making such a repulsive and mean-spirited woman, if not likable, at least, tolerable. She never tries to ingratiate herself. Instead, she depicts a mean girl caught in the throngs of arrested development and expects the movie audience to deal with it. Her acting choices work beautifully inside and out. Theron uses her expressive beauty and sexual allure to hide Mavis' twisted and unpleasant traits. Hopefully, this honest and compelling performance won't turn off Academy voters due to its nasty portrayal of its anti-heroine. It's a wonderful job of acting.

Oswalt gives a fully dimensional comic portrait of a small town loser type with bigger dreams. He's living with his sister. He's alone. He's Mavis' conscience and he's working overtime. He's the voice of reason ( and the sensible voice of the movie audience as well. ). Oswalt plays his character as an endearing slug, a man-child full of sage advice and bitter disappointment. It is a finely honed comic performance.

Cleverly scripted, Young Adult is filled with smart one-liners that advance the action and are keeping with their flawed characters. Yet the film carries with it a more serious tone, not the laugh-a-minute movie one would suspect from the trailer. The characters and their situations verge on the real with the comically surreal. In an uncomfortable but pivotal scene, Mavis addresses Buddy's married life with consoling words and advice that " we can beat this thing together" and leave his KenTacoHut world behind. Cody's sharply observed and cynical view of small town life is imbued in her characters and may be distasteful to some moviegoers, although I found this film quite amusing and droll. The only objection to the film was in two of the film's final scenes ( which were effectively done but inaccurate to the characters' true motivations and actions).

Reitman is again drawn to damaged characters in his leading roles as he had successfully done with films like Juno and Up in the Air. He is relentless in his ability to make such complicated people completely fascinating as they free fall into despair. He makes their journey filled with ironic and satirical possibilities, making the negative positively comic in tone.

Young Adult resists the sweet rosy side of life. It humorously embraces the sad fatalistic notion of our everyday existence, supplanting upbeat and unattainable desires with a refreshingly downbeat sensibility. And that's seems very grown-up to me. GRADE: B+

NOTE: Visit my movie blog for more reviews: www.dearmoviegoer.com

Seriously!!!!!!!!!!!! How can this movie be getting the average score it has? Sitting through this movie would have to be one of the most painful experiences I have had and is a portion of my life I would rather have back. The plot was so boring and slow and I actually found myself constantly checking the elapsed time the movie had been going as I just wanted the whole experience to be over! The story was lame and didn't go anywhere and I actually thought this title was supposed to be a comedy but it is far from ever remotely being funny. I enjoyed Up In The Air and haven't seen Juno but I'm sure Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody haven't struck gold with this release. I don't normally write reviews, but I felt that this movie was so bad I just had to get it off my chest.

I will start with the one and only positive to this movie; Charlize Theron portrays her character as a classical popular school girl who has no time for anyone except herself, who 20 years into the future ends up as a depressant alcoholic who lives purely in the past of her school glory days very well. However the main two issues with this movie is it's unbelievably boring plot and an even worst script. The plot consisting solely of Mavis Gray trying to win back her former high school boy friend, who is happily married with a new baby, drags so heavily and becomes utterly monotonous after the half hour mark. The script that Diablo Cody has created contains her attempt at humour which is best described as dry. Unfortunately it is quite apparent that Diablo Cody hasn't a single funny bone in her body as this movie fails to create any form of laughter at any point. There are moments that are actually quite offensive in which disabled people are mocked for the sake of it. And to top it all off Diablo decides to be clever going against the cliché ending in which the nasty girl becomes a 'goody'. However all this does is leaves you deflated and curious as to the point of the movie other than to show us the life of a pathetic waste of space of a human being. If I had to use one negative comment about this movie though it would be BORING!

P.S if you watch this movie ask yourself if it felt like 1hr 30mins? I bet the answer is a lot more!!!

Young Adult (2011)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Jason Reitman's latest has Charlize Theron turning in yet another great performance. This time she plays Mavis Gary, an alcoholic, somewhat mentally disturbed writer of young adult books who gets the notion of returning to her hometown so that she can steal her former love (Patrick Wilson) from his wife and newborn baby. Along the way she ends up striking up a friendship with a former classmate (Patton Oswalt) who was left cripple after being beaten in a hate crime. YOUNG ADULT is sadly being sold off as some sort of silly comedy and while there are some major laughs to be had, there's no question the majority of Diablo Cody's screenplay is full of darker edged moments and some pretty serious looks at depression and mental illness. I must say that I was really shocked to see how different the film was from the actual trailer and perhaps this has kept a few people away but the writer, director and star have all turned in another very impressive film. What I liked most about the film, other than the performances, was the way the screenplay really wasn't afraid to be rather edgy. There are some pretty politically incorrect jokes about the hate crime issue and the entire way this was used in the film was quite daring. Consider that this here gets many of the comedy bits was a little surprising but it worked so effectively that when the tender, more quiet moments came along it also helped them. The screenplay never goes for flat out laughs and it also doesn't go for boring melodrama. Instead the film really comes across as a slice of life drama that has just about every type of emotion you'd expect to get from life. I thought director Reitman did a very good job at keeping the film moving at a nice pace and there's no question that he handles both the comedy and drama extremely well. The main attraction here is without question the performance of Theron. This is a pretty rough character to play because she's quite the bitch and yet you're supposed to feel sorry for her at times. No matter how many dumb things she does the actress manages to make you feel for her character even if you can't stand what she's doing. The actress handles the drama so well that it's rather amazing to see how well she handles the comedy too. Hopefully Patton Oswalt will get some attention for his performance because he too really helps get not only the comedy across but he's in some way the one character you can like for all the right reasons. Patton is so believable in the part that you can't help but feel as if you've known the guy your entire life. Wilson is also very good in his scenes as are Elizabeth Reaser and Collette Wolfe. I think there are a few problems with the film including the first ten or so minutes, which seems to only be in the movie so that they could get as much product placement as possible. I've written over seven thousand reviews and this is the first time I've ever complained about product placement but it was just so annoying here. I'd also say the final speech at the very end of the movie really didn't come off in a good way. Those two issues are so minor that it's hard to fault the film too much and what's in between is certainly something very charming and touching.