(Visitor from the Planet of the Drunk Biyatches…)
CAST: Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, Collette Wolfe, Jill Eikenberry, Mary Beth Hurt.
DIRECTOR: Jason Reitman
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and several compelling reasons not to ever date the most popular girl in high school - straight ahead….
IT’S LIKE THIS: Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) is a Minneapolis chick who is some serious bad juju. Despite the fact that she’s already in her late 30’s, Mavis acts like she’s still the high school queen and drinks herself into oblivion on a regular basis. Which might be okay, but she’s also kind of an awful scumbag, despite looking as pretty as Charlize Theron. Which makes it such a shocking surprise that her husband recently divorced her. He’s probably out there right now throwing a party and celebrating with someone more fun, gracious, and intelligent. I guess looks aren’t everything, huh? Mavis, for her part, decides to pick herself up and move forward by… going back to her hometown of Mercury, Minnesota and stealing her high school sweetheart, Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson) from his wife Beth (Elizabeth Reaser). Yes, sir, that’s her recovery plan. Let’s just say that Mavis Gary is who they are talking about when they say, “Shiny on the outside, rotten on the inside”. In other words, beware which apples you pick up. You could wind up with a Mavis Gary instead of a Granny Smith.
THE DUDE (OR DUDETTE) MOST LIKELY TO SAVE THE DAY: Matt Fruehauf (Patton Oswalt), the nerd that Mavis went to high school with, and with whom she forms an unexpected sort-of friendship when she comes home to enact her “master plan“. If anyone can talk some sense into Mavis’s head, it’s Matt. Or is it? Good luck, dude…
EYE CANDY MOST LIKELY TO FIRE UP A WOODY: Charlize Theron is pretty smokin’, but her character is so unpleasant, unkind, and ungracious that she actually starts to look ugly and withered to us. I guess that’s a testament to Theron’s performance. So, the award must go to Patrick Wilson as Mavis’s high school sweetheart.
MOST INTENTIONALLY HILARIOUS SCENE: Anytime Matt tells Mavis like it is: that she’s basically a Psycho Bitch From Hell. This happens a lot in this movie...
MOST UNINTENTIONALLY HILARIOUS SCENE: Mavis getting all dolled up for a party to impress Buddy, only to have Beth accidentally spill red wine all over her dress. There goes the neighborhood…
HOTTEST SCENE: Any scene where Matt tells Mavis like it is. There’s just something sexy about a guy who takes the bull by the horns - or the bitch by the tits.
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW: Will Mavis finally realize what a rotten and sad person she is? Will Matt be able to help her with this realization? Or is he going to throw his hands up and give up on her like her husband did? Will Mavis wreck Buddy’s marriage? Does Buddy love her, too? Or is he loyal to Beth? How will Mavis save herself? If at all? Does she even deserve to be saved? Well, let’s put it this way: she may look like Charlize Theron, but her insides look like Gollum from the HARRY POTTER series. Inner beauty is what counts, folks…
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH “YOUNG ADULT”: If you like screenwriter Diablo Cody’s acid brand of humor, showcased so well in JUNO. And if you love the multi-faceted, talented, and fearless Charlize Theron, who is that rare actress who can play against her beauty.
WHY YOU MAY NOT ENJOY “YOUNG ADULT”: If you want your heroines to actually be, you know, likable and sympathetic. If so, steer very clear of this movie.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: With her Academy-Award winning screenplay for JUNO, Diablo Cody established herself as someone who could create a comic world that is both sweet and snarky at the same time, without each compromising the other. JUNO was easily one of the most memorable films of the past decade, and it certainly semaphored good things for Cody. Her follow-up was the fun but ultimately pointless horror/thriller JENNIFER’S BODY starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried. The film was meant to tap into Cody’s deep love for B-Horror movies, and was echoed a little in JUNO with the lead character’s expansive knowledge of cult films.
In comparison to JENNIFER’S BODY and JUNO, Cody’s third writing effort is a much more daring and provocative affair. But not necessarily more enjoyable. YOUNG ADULT doesn’t have a sympathetic heroine the way those other two movies did. Here, the lead character is downright unlikable and practically irredeemable. There are a couple of moments in the latter part of the film where it looks like Mavis just might realize what a horrible person she is, but not being intelligent and self-aware enough, she fumbles it. The result is tragic and amusing at the same time. And Charlize Theron delivers a brave performance that never once tries to court audience sympathy. She presents Mavis, warts and all, and leaves it up to us to assess her. And my assessment is this: Mavis Gary is someone you don’t want to be around, let alone look at, because her beauty is compromised by a truly rotten personality - and Theron’s performance is so vivid and precise, that you eventually begin to see less and less of her beauty, and more of that inner ugliness. It’s an amazing performance, and one that should be remembered come Academy Awards time.
The supporting cast is excellent, led by the awesome Patton Oswalt as Matt, the unexpected friend that Mavis makes, and the guy who tries his best to get through to her. Oswalt and Theron have a nicely warm rapport, and the scenes between Matt and Mavis are easily YOUNG ADULT’s best. You can’t help but hope that he can “cure” her - and save her from herself. But you also can’t help but wish he’d get the hell away from her while he can, because she’s probably not worth the effort. Oswalt, along with Theron, are the true standouts of this film.
Patrick Wilson and Elizabeth Reaser are good as the married couple that Mavis tries to break-up. Some of the scenes of Mavis, Buddy, and Beth are so cringe-inducing that you have to give credit to all of the actors for getting you to feel so uncomfortable. That’s the mark of a vivid performance. Because Mavis is so unlikable, our sympathies automatically shift to Buddy and Beth, and hope that they survive Mavis’s onslaught.
In the end, though, as lauded and praised as YOUNG ADULT is, it’s not the kind of movie that I would want to see again. The main character is so unpleasant and, ultimately, completely unattractive. If I did see it again, it would be just to admire Charlize Theron’s fearless performance. For her, I would do it. In the end, though, it’s just a solidly good film. But, enjoyment-wise, it’s no JUNO.
