Young Adult

This is one of those films you read about and really look forward to; but, once seen, you realize that, while good, it's not quite worthy of the build up.

Charlize Theron is quite good and makes the most of the script she has to work with. As always, hers eyes, facial expression and body language all help her bring life to the role.

Patton Oswalt also does a star turn as a bit of conscience for Charlize's character.

The story is well told, albeit a bit of a stretch. For someone reaching back to her past for a lost love, Charlize's character is quite believable; it's her long ago beau, Patrick Wilson, that's not quite up to snuff. Given that these two play off each other for a great deal of the film, it would be nicer to have had a better performer opposite her.

That said, it's worth watching, though probably a bit depressing for many viewers.

Young Adult is Diablo Cody's latest utterly refreshing attempt on the life of a once-famous high school queen who was facing challenges in her life. The renowned writer of Juno is making a entirely different attempt here by depicting a mid-life crisis of Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) and her return visit to her hometown where she lived when she was a teenager.

Mavis hated the town, hated everything about it, hated all the people in it, that was, except Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson), who used to be her boyfriend. It didn't take her long to decide that she would return and rescue Buddy who she thought was a hostage in the deadly town with his marriage and newborn daughter. She would save herself from the disappointment from her life, save Buddy from the living hell, and picked up where things ended, once and for all.

And well, you expected it. Things were not as simple as that; they never are. So get ready for the adventure in this visit and get ready to know our Mavis better.

Charlize Theron totally manipulated the role of Mavis, letting the audience get to know who Mavis Gary really was as the events continued to unfold. It was a solid, realistic and Oscar-worthy performance that blew the audience away.

Young Adult is about life, about the past and the present, about why people are easily stuck in the past and do not see a future ahead of them. This is about why we should accept the present and look forward instead of always looking back. It is also more of a drama than a comedy but still it did give me some laughs.

Greetings again from the darkness. Writer Diablo Cody and Director Jason Reitman reunite for the first time since their breakout hit "Juno". In that fine film, we were treated to many optimistic and sarcastic life lessons from a very likable, and easy to cheer for, teenage girl. This time around we get the caustic, childlike self-centeredness of a mid-30's alcoholic sadly trying to recapture the magic of her high school years as the prom queen dating the coolest guy.

Ms. Cody and Mr. Reitman deserve much credit for steering clear of the Hollywood traditions of redemption, remorse, and turning over a new leaf. In fact, we probably dislike Mavis (Charlize Theron) even more as the movie ends than we did in the film's first 5 minutes, if that's even possible. It takes courage as a filmmaker to have a lead character who is disliked through the entire movie, not just by the people in her life, but also by the audience. It also takes a special actress to pull this off. If you saw Theron in her Oscar winning role in "Monster", believe me when I say that she is equally unsympathetic here ... though she does commit fewer actual crimes.

This film is erroneously marketed as a smart comedy. While there are some funny elements, it's difficult to find much humor in someone who is so unstable and narcissistic. Wisely, the script provides us with Matt (Patton Oswalt) as the voice of reason. He sees through the Mavis mask and speaks directly in his attempts to divert her from her plan. That plan is to break up the marriage of her high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). Oh yeah, he just happens to be happily married (Elizabeth Reaser) with a newborn baby.

The best scenes of the film are between Mavis and Matt. She is oblivious to her negative effect on others, while he shoots her straight while avoiding his own harsh reality. See, Matt was the victim of a vicious hate crime, which left his leg (and other things) mangled. His own view of life is why he can see right through Mavis and her issues. While I so admire the basis of the script, I just believe there is a missing element. The element of hope and optimism. Heck, even when Mavis admits she "might be an alcoholic", her parents shrug it off and change topics. Sometimes crying out for help just isn't enough.

The film is worth seeing for the performances of Theron and Oswalt, as well as for the unique script. Just don't get tricked into believing it's some laugh riot with a fairy tale ending. Mavis is a ghost writer for teen novels, and she writes the latest as she lives this nightmare of a trip back home. My only real question ... is she mature enough to write for teens?

'Young Adult' is the fourth feature of Jason Reitman, whose movies have always had a refreshing indie feel. When I look back to his filmography, I think they all have these protagonists who are in process of self- discovery. Over the course of events, they found the new one/lost one of themselves. 'Young Adult' also joins this culture.

Marvis Gary, played confidently by Charlize Theron, is an adult writer of 'Y.A. (Young Adult/Teen) Literature' living in a big city, far away from home for a long time. Her daily routine seems to be like all the lonely writers- writing, sleeping, eating, drinking, and then sleeping again. Course changes when she receives an invitation from her ex, Buddy, for a baby naming ceremony and then she is back, back to the memories of her 'glorious' past, as she likes to think of it. Marvis has always been a popular girl in high school, we learn that from numerous conversations. Now she is a struggling (her series is about to be canceled) writer living alone in a city and dealing with a recent divorce. It's no surprise that she wants to relive her popularity and more specifically, get his ex back. I think, because of living in this teenage world while writing literature and also having fame during here teenage, she's still stuck in that phase. She's still a 'young adult.' Which might be the reason why she still thinks that life can change the tracks and get her and Buddy back, like in the movies. We learn that Buddy is a happily married man and a father. And soon, over the course of events, Marvis also comes out of her illusion and teenage dreams and faces reality. Like I said, it ends with a self-discovery.

Reitman knows what he's doing. Like all of his other movies, he doesn't try to stuff you up with heavy emotions. Even the most melodramatic events would be presented with a light and refreshing approach in his movies. That's where his vision stands out. And Charlize Theron does a wonderful job supplementing Jason Reitman's vision.

Without an iota of irony, Charlize Theron finally uses her intimidating beauty for pure Machiavellian evil, and the results are fortuitous in this dark-hued 2011 comedy, the latest collaboration of director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody ("Juno"). She's absolutely spot-on terrific playing Mavis Gary, the condescending, hateful high school girl who comes back to Mercury, her podunk hometown nearly two decades later. Mavis is no Blanche Dubois-type character whose ladylike beauty has faded into a gauzy romantic delusion. No, Mavis is still one hot babe and very much the complete narcissist she was as a teenager, emotionally stunted despite her relative worldliness having moved to Minneapolis to become a ghostwriter of a series of teen novels.

It's not surprising she finds success writing for an adolescent audience since she still defines her life with teenage-level priorities and fantasies. As she has proved with "Juno", Cody is thoroughly fluent with this perspective, but the twist is that this time, it's coming from a jaded 37-year-old woman. Even though Mavis is a divorcée who lives in a high-rise apartment with a toy dog and can easily get any man she wants, she is triggered by a birth announcement email she receives from her high school sweetheart Buddy Slade and becomes fixated on getting him back all these years later. It doesn't matter that he's happily married and perfectly content living in Mercury. She concocts a scheme to make herself so alluring that he will want to run away with her. Normally, this would be an excuse for broad comedy machinations, but Theron is so gorgeous that it makes her shameless attempts at seduction all the more edgily desperate.

It's a narrowly developed plot for sure, but surprisingly, what enriches the proceedings is the unexpected relationship Mavis develops with Matt Freehauf, a sad-sack former classmate whose sole claim to notoriety was being the victim of a hate crime when he was beaten up and left for dead by a group of jocks who assumed he was gay. He has been left crippled, living in Mercury with his sister making his own home-brewed bourbon and putting together mix-and-match action figures. That Mavis and Matt connect is all the more intriguing since they were at opposite ends of the social spectrum back in school, and their present-day bond is also fueled by her obvious alcoholism, a point that is overlooked by her befuddled parents who wish to think of Mavis as the flawless pretty daughter of their own deluded fantasies. The story evolves in the direction you would expect but not before certain revelations come to light in a tortuous scene at the baby-naming party Buddy and his sensible wife Beth have with all their relatives and close friends in attendance.

Beyond Theron's fearless work and intentionally deadpan line delivery, there is comedian Patton Oswalt's surprisingly affecting performance as Matt. I only know him from his recurring role as a comical sad-sack on the sitcom "King of Queens", so it's surprising to see the amount of texture he brings to this role. As Buddy, Patrick Wilson once again plays the sought-after himbo, but this time, his character's unshaven, small-town modesty comes across as more contrite with his character's feelings toward Mavis left quite elliptical. Elizabeth Reaser ("Sweet Land") isn't given that much to do as Beth, probably by intention, but Collette Wolf has a few impactful moments as Matt's insulated sister still idolizing Mavis after all these years. As he showed with "Juno" and "Up in the Air", Reitman shows a deft hand with actors playing flawed characters who try to manipulate their circumstances but fall short of their vaunted expectations.