Review – Young Adult
Some people say that your high school years are the best years of your life. For a small group of popular kids that may be true and for those people the best years of their lives are also the rest of their lives. ‘Young Adult’ is a character study of what happens to high school stereotypes when they grow up, and it’s not pretty.
Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) is a writer living in Minneapolis sleeping away the days and drinking through the nights. After receiving news that her high school boyfriend Buddy (Patrick Wilson) has become a father, she travels back to her small home town with the goal of getting him back.
‘Young Adult’ is stacked with terrific performances and Theron is the standout. Her character is angry at the world and Theron gives off a glare that could stop the heart of a hamster. Her portrayal of a high school queen bee/mean girl in her mid-thirties chasing delusions of happiness is awkward and engaging. Squaring off with Theron is Patton Oswalt who is excellent as a geeky social outcast and Wilson is good as the old flame.
It’s a real shame that these great performances get lost in a film that has very little to offer. The story gets repetitive quickly and all the effort put into developing the characters is cast aside with a very disappointing finale. ‘Young Adult’ goes in a complete circle and it’s not worth taking the trip. A shoddy effort from screenwriter Diablo Cody whose name is used a lot to promote the film, and it’s a major step down from her excellent work on ‘Juno’ which she has still not matched with any of her follow up films.
Director Jason Reitman doesn’t fair too good either and his obsession with characters jaded by life is starting to get tiring. I wasn’t a big fan of ‘Up In the Air’ and ‘Young Adult’ fits in the same category. Maybe his next film will be about a bunch of privileged heroin addicts who turn to drugs despite their riches in life? Put the three films together for Reitman’s ‘bummed out on life’ trilogy.
Cody and Reitman were once two of the most promising talents in the filmmaking business, but ‘Young Adult’ erases any of their past success from memory. I truly hope for a return to form soon because ‘Young Adult’ is a real downer.
2/5
‘Young Adult’ is now showing.
Paramount
The Popcorn Junkie
Your review is spot on!
Disappointing. I love Theron and was really excited for this movie, but all the reviews agree on one thing: It’s not that great. Good review.
What are you talking about? It is at 84% with Top Critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 82% overall. It’s around 71 on metacritic which is neck and neck with Dragon Tattoo and other greatly acclaimed films of 2011. It’s uncomfortable and stinging, sure but the film offers some great truth and I for one loved it. I think people expecting some sort of uplifting comedy are going to be disappointed but that doesn’t take away from the unique nature of this film. Theron, Reitman, and Cody are all ballsy and daring for tackling such uncomfortable material and I’m glad they did. Don’t let one review (that is in the minority anyway) change your perception or expectations of a truly great film.
I was disappointed by the ending also – but overall, I thought this was a pretty unique character study of one of the most memorable characters to hit cinemas in quite a while. As much as I loathed her, I still found plenty to sympathize with, and I thought Theron was outstanding. I laughed a lot in the first half, but then they evidently dried later – but I think this is the best work of Diablo Cody’s career, though I would rank it second-tier Reitman (big Up in the Air fan). Nice write-up Cam.
I really have to disagree with you here, Cam. It’s most definitely worth a watch and Cody’s most mature effort, despite the ending not being what a lot of us had hoped for. I don’t see how you can blame Reitman, either, for your dislike of the film. I think he did a great job with the cast (the acting was excellent) and the overall look and feel of the film was consistent, if a little too dark for some people’s tastes. Young Adult is still a much more interesting film than 85% of what’s out there being made and it deserves to be seen by a larger audience than I think it will reach.
it’s “fare too well”– if you are going to critique a movie so unfarely, at least try to use proper American.
Thanks for reading the review & for the tip. My American is a little off, I only speak Australian.
I thought it was great, made follow & later empathise with a largely unlikable character. And the ending was great – she was a better person than she started the movie but still a bitch, needs a few more breakdowns before she becomes a really good person. Much more realistic than her becoming Pollyanna in the end. Not often you see a subtle character arc in a film.
I genuinely liked this movie – for one of the first times, I felt that Charlize Theron truly connected with the audience (me) as an actress (she can come across as icy in her films). I cringed a lot throughout the film due to its dark humour and spot-on commentary on vapid narcissism and liked the ending – well done. I hope more people see it.