Young Adult

Young Adult is the second collaboration between director Jason Reitman and write Diablo Cody, their first being the divisive Juno.

I have seen Juno twice, albeit not since it was originally released. Even after all this time, I can't quite figure out how I feel about the movie. On one hand, the dialogue at times was excruciating, so much so that anyone defending it by arguing that's just how teens talk today sent me into a blinding rage. I blamed Cody. On the other hand though, there are some genuinely fucked up things that happen in that movie, things that are dealt with in a very realistic and honest way. Some of this is due to Reitman's deft direction, but it was Cody who laid the groundwork.

I'd have to see the film again before I could try and figure out what my final opinion of it and Cody's effort is, but I can definitely tell you that after viewing Young Adult, I will be keeping a close eye on all her future projects from this point on.

The film opens with a wordless introduction to Mavis, played by Charlize Theron, showing her going through what appears to be her morning routine. Wake up face down and hungover, chug diet coke straight from the bottle, do a half ass workout with a Wii, watch The Kardashians and eventually sit down to read emails and maybe do some work.

It feels as though Cody went out of her way to prove that her Oscar win wasn't a fluke and that she has more in her than just witty and insane dialogue( though there are a few moments where she allows a few choice teen phrases to pop up to amusing effect). The good news is that she succeeds, almost overwhelmingly so. Mavis is, in a word, a wreck. Completely self-obsessed and bordering on alcoholism, Mavis receives a slight slap to the face when she receives a mass email from her high school boyfriend announcing the birth of his child. Convinced that he is miserable, Mavis takes it upon herself to go back to her hometown and save her former love from misery, no matter the cost.

Theron has already proven her Oscar win for Monster was deserved a few times over, but here she gets the chance at another kind of monster in Mavis, giving her just the right amount of bitchiness and believability without making her a cartoon. What's even more impressive is that Theron has the balls to play a character so utterly unlikeable. Mavis truly has no redeemable qualities, and in the end doesn't even learn anything or make any kind of huge change, and Theron relishes it. It's rare nowadays to see an honest to god movie star make such a move. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of movie stars who are still giving great performances, but few give off such a sense of 'I don't give a fuck' as Theron is here. Truly refreshing.

Praise also has to be given to Patton Oswalt, who plays Theron's crippled former class mate who is the only one who tries even a little bit to convince Mavis that something is seriously wrong with her. Oswalt has slowly but surely been delivering great performances for years now, especially with Big Fan, and here's hoping Young Adult enables him even more chances.

The only thing that doesn't stand out about Young Adult is Jason Reitman's direction. That's not a diss though. Reitman understands that the script and cast have done a lot of the work for him, so he carefully and quietly guides the story to its end, unafraid to let the movie go to the dark places it does and willing to let everyone else take all the credit.

As a Jason Reitman film, I have to say I enjoyed Up in the Air and Thank You for Smoking quite a bit more. But as a Diablo Cody and Charlize Theron movie, I really liked it. I'm especially excited to see what Cody does with her Evil Dead script given how dark and funny her work here is.

So there is one down. I've also seen The Decendants and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo so I'll try to get something up here for both of those before the weekend is done.

So, until then, suck it.