Young Adult

When I first saw the previews for ‘Young Adult’, I thought it looked like crap. Like another ‘Hangover’ or ‘Bridesmaids’ type film, but without much actual humor, and with a mean spirited protagonist. Then I heard that the people who made it also made two other films that I really liked, ‘Up In the Air’, and ‘Juno’, and I decided that I’d wait and see if the reviews were good. And they were, very good.

Charlize Theron is Mavis Gary, a semi-successful writer of young adult books who lives in Minneapolis. We are shown a glimpse of her life, which seems to consist mainly of writer’s-block, drinking, trolling for men, drinking, waking up face down on her bed with her clothes on, drinking, and oh yeah, drinking. One day she receives a birth announcement from her high school ex, who is now a proud papa, and determines that the time is right to claim her rightful place by his side, wife and new baby be damned.

I know, it doesn’t sound like much of a story, does it? At least not one that you’d want to watch. And while Mavis is not the least bit likable, you do feel for her. You don’t want her to succeed in her plan, but you do have a certain sympathy for her. That’s the combination of good acting, good writing, and good directing. Without all three, I suspect you’d just hate Mavis for being the pathetic self-centered alcoholic that she is. Another saving grace of the film is Patton Oswalt, who had the locker next to Mavis all through high school, and who worshiped her for the beautiful popular girl she was, and whom she never noticed, except she remembered that he was beaten and left for dead by a bunch of jocks who thought he was gay. They strike up a conversation at a bar her first night in town, and they recognize something in each other that allows them to open up and really talk. They become friends, and while you still don’t get the feeling that they actually like each other, they do like to drink together, and they can call bullshit in each other when they see it.

I found myself thinking about ‘Young Adult’ quite a bit after seeing it. I liked it a lot, and I think it might be worth a second viewing.