Young Adult
Regal, January 7, 2012
Movie #2 for 2012
Hmmm. In a bunch of ways, I don’t know what I think about Young Adult. Maybe if I just start talking about it my opinion will become clear by the end? Worth a shot.
Mavis (CHARLIZE THERON, pictured) is 37 and the ghost writer for a teen book series (kind of Sweet Valley High by way of the Kardashians) that used to be massively popular. She is struggling to write the last book in the freshly-cancelled series. She is distracted by the announcement via email that her high school sweetheart, Buddy (PATRICK WILSON) and his wife have had their first baby. She ignores the increasingly desperate calls from her editor and drives home from Minneapolis to the hick town of Mercury, Minnesota to reconnect with Buddy - something that she’s sure he wants too.
It could be the premise for a romantic comedy but Diablo Cody’s script stays dark as it is slowly reveals the many, varied and deeply prosaic ways that Mavis is unhinged from reality. Cody also hints at past behaviors and traumas, which, although not explaining Mavis’ breakdown, make her more sympathetic. Her climactic epiphany is tiny and, perhaps, fleeting.
JASON REITMAN is as talented a director as ever, working with Theron to make Mavis bravely ugly. But they use a kind of sympathetic self-loathing to show the things in her to like. Which is quit a feat, because they aren’t many.
In terms of strong and unconventional female characters, it’s everything that Bad Teacher wished it was, and a whole lot more.
You know what, I think I did like it. It was uncomfortable to watch, but it was meant to be. And I call that a success.
