Young Adult

Young Adult (2011) starring Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser. Directed by Jason Reitman. Written by Diablo Cody. Theron stars as Mavis Gary, a divorced, 37-year-old, alcoholic writer of young-adult fiction who decides to go back to her small home town and win back her high-school love, Buddy Slade (Wilson). Only problem is, Buddy is married to Beth (Reaser), with a newborn child to take care of. This doesn't bother Mavis (described by another character as "that psycho prom-queen bitch"), who blithely sets out to break up Buddy's marriage and win him for herself. Along the way, she runs into an old high-school acquaintance named Matt (Oswalt), who becomes her confidante and comforter. The whole movie is very uneven in tone, and Mavis is definitely not a likable person. How can you wish for her to succeed when what she is trying to do is so despicable? Director Reitman and writer Cody are the team that brought us "Juno," so expectations for this film might be high; but it is quite a letdown. Theron plays a character we don't like, and does it very well. But her ultimate realization that she "needs to change" is not quite enough to save the movie. (Subtitles in English are provided, and the closed captions are very good.) Grade: C