Young Adult

Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, Patton Oswalt, Elizabeth Reaser

Dir. Jason Reitman
Scr. Diablo Cody

I guess I was supposed to be amused and, fleetingly, I was. And I suppose I was meant to be shocked. And saddened. Meh. Ultimately, I felt exceedingly neutral while watching this film. Much like the depression afflicted main character. I expected more from the writer/director team that brought us one the best indie films of the last decade. If it wasn’t for a couple of great performances and a refreshingly original and honest ending, I think I would have wanted my money back.

Mavis Gary (Theron), a successful but unfulfilled writer of teen fiction, decides to return to her small hometown and win back the heart of her high school boyfriend (Wilson). Trouble is he’s happily married with a new baby girl. Mavis doesn’t seem to see this as a serious obstacle, as oblivious to real life as the teen girls she writes about. When her plan doesn’t fall into place as easily as she expected, she forms an unlikely friendship with fellow alumni Matt (Oswalt) who, like Mavis, hasn’t moved on from his high school experiences either.

This movie is more drama than comedy, so don’t go expecting many laughs. The humour on offer is very black indeed. And while I’m usually quite a fan of this (I often find myself the only one laughing out loud in a darkened cinema at a particularly dark joke), I just felt the humour here wasn’t nearly funny or clever enough. Sure, there were moments. Matt’s response to Mavis explaining to him that zombies were dead people – “I’m a fat nerd, I know what zombies are” – had me chuckling. And, trust me, I could tell what was supposed to make you laugh in spite of yourself. It just didn’t.

I think one of the main problems with Young Adult was that the lead character was hugely unlikeable (not a problem in and of itself) and I just didn’t care whether she redeemed herself (major problem). I’m quite the fan of unlikeable characters (one of my favourite films is There Will Be Blood, for goodness sake) but we have to still connect with an unlikeable character. And we have have have have HAVE to invest in their redemption. Mavis is a complete cow. Always has been. Sure, she’s clearly suffering from depression or some other form of mental illness. But I simply didn’t care. That’s an unassailable flaw for this movie I’m afraid. The ending only reinforced my lack of caring. And while I found it to be nicely original, it didn’t change my mind on the film as a whole.

I really can’t fault the performances on offer here. In fact, Theron and Oswalt make the film bearable. Theron is perfect – her body language, facial expressions, delivery reeks of this flawed human being. And Oswalt’s turn is poignant and sad and believable. Wilson too gives a nicely nuanced performance as the object of unwanted affection.

If you go into this film expecting some of the warm and humour of Juno, you will be very disappointed indeed. But I don’t think this is the anti-Juno either, as many critics have gushed. Rather than being the dark work of genius I think Young Adult is aiming to be, it’s simply dark. And in the end, that darkness wears you down, leaving you with no one and nothing to care about.

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Mavis: You can come to the city with me like we always planned.
Buddy: Mavis, I'm a married man.
Mavis: I know we can beat this thing, together.