Young Adult (2011) directed by Jason Reitman
So he moves with his peers, different blocks, different years/
Sitting on, different benches like it's musical chairs/
All his peoples moved on in life, he's on the corners at night/
with young dudes it's them he wanna be like/
It's sad but it's fun to him right? He never grew up/
31 and can't give his youth up, he's in his second childhood.
- Nas, 2nd Childhood
In Young Adult, Charlize Theron's character Mavis has escaped the small town of Mercury and moved to the big city Minneapolis where she's living the life, sort of. In the beginning portions of the film we see scenes of her lonely life in her apartment, clearly unhappy, or at the very least, bored. It just goes to show that home and happiness is whatever you make of it. Just because you move to a big city it doesn't mean your life will magically become better. I know this personally because I've recently moved from a suburb to an apartment in a big city and I've found that my life is pretty much exactly the same.
Mavis is particularly perturbed to receive an e-mail from her old high school sweetheart Buddy announcing the birth of his daughter with his wife. Determined to change something in her life, Mavis has the great idea of returning back to Mercury to rekindle her relationship with Buddy, wife and baby be damned. Clearly she has problems. Young Adult isn't quite like Sweet Home Alabama where Reece Witherspoon gets in touch with her past and finds happiness was in Alabama all along. Here, Mavis couldn't really give a damn. She is immature, cynical and selfish and just when you think she might turn the corner, she makes you dislike her even more.
Given the premise and the way the film progresses, you know this cannot end well for Mavis. She thinks she will find happiness in her past and is desperate to recapture something, anything, but she must first realize the problem is with herself. She is a alcoholic train wreck and it is just a matter of how big the explosion is going to be. What is so strange, and perhaps great, about the film is that it doesn't lead you anywhere you'd expect normal films to go, but is exactly what you'd expect if this happened in real life. Mavis's lunacy and horrible personality may be somewhat of a stretch, but there is something about her that has a ring of painful reality to it. She is a bitter lonely thirty-something year old woman on the verge of an emotional, perhaps mental breakdown, how else would you expect this go for her?
In the wake of her derailment there is a crucial moment of vulnerability where we can finally feel for her and think, "Finally, she is ready to change." Unfortunately she finds the wrong shoulder to cry on and pretty much gets the worst pep talk ever. I won't go into what is said and how she responds to it, only that it is unexpected yet so fitting.
This is really a wonderfully morose film that at times can be frustrating to watch. There are some scenes where I was physically uncomfortable, even shielding my eyes, because I was so deeply embarrassed and sorry for Mavis. The key to the film is in Charlize Theron's performance. She has given some great performances over the years and this is no exception. She works hard at making us dislike her, yet we so desperately want her to change for the better. One thing I will say is that this film is listed as a comedy, and there are some funny moments, but this is definitely not Juno, Jason Reitman's and Diablo Cody's last project together. Young Adult isn't a coming of age story, it's about how some people cling onto their pasts as a means of hope for their future.
Grade: B
So he moves with his peers, different blocks, different years/
Sitting on, different benches like it's musical chairs/
All his peoples moved on in life, he's on the corners at night/
with young dudes it's them he wanna be like/
It's sad but it's fun to him right? He never grew up/
31 and can't give his youth up, he's in his second childhood.
- Nas, 2nd Childhood
In Young Adult, Charlize Theron's character Mavis has escaped the small town of Mercury and moved to the big city Minneapolis where she's living the life, sort of. In the beginning portions of the film we see scenes of her lonely life in her apartment, clearly unhappy, or at the very least, bored. It just goes to show that home and happiness is whatever you make of it. Just because you move to a big city it doesn't mean your life will magically become better. I know this personally because I've recently moved from a suburb to an apartment in a big city and I've found that my life is pretty much exactly the same.
Mavis is particularly perturbed to receive an e-mail from her old high school sweetheart Buddy announcing the birth of his daughter with his wife. Determined to change something in her life, Mavis has the great idea of returning back to Mercury to rekindle her relationship with Buddy, wife and baby be damned. Clearly she has problems. Young Adult isn't quite like Sweet Home Alabama where Reece Witherspoon gets in touch with her past and finds happiness was in Alabama all along. Here, Mavis couldn't really give a damn. She is immature, cynical and selfish and just when you think she might turn the corner, she makes you dislike her even more.
Given the premise and the way the film progresses, you know this cannot end well for Mavis. She thinks she will find happiness in her past and is desperate to recapture something, anything, but she must first realize the problem is with herself. She is a alcoholic train wreck and it is just a matter of how big the explosion is going to be. What is so strange, and perhaps great, about the film is that it doesn't lead you anywhere you'd expect normal films to go, but is exactly what you'd expect if this happened in real life. Mavis's lunacy and horrible personality may be somewhat of a stretch, but there is something about her that has a ring of painful reality to it. She is a bitter lonely thirty-something year old woman on the verge of an emotional, perhaps mental breakdown, how else would you expect this go for her?
In the wake of her derailment there is a crucial moment of vulnerability where we can finally feel for her and think, "Finally, she is ready to change." Unfortunately she finds the wrong shoulder to cry on and pretty much gets the worst pep talk ever. I won't go into what is said and how she responds to it, only that it is unexpected yet so fitting.
This is really a wonderfully morose film that at times can be frustrating to watch. There are some scenes where I was physically uncomfortable, even shielding my eyes, because I was so deeply embarrassed and sorry for Mavis. The key to the film is in Charlize Theron's performance. She has given some great performances over the years and this is no exception. She works hard at making us dislike her, yet we so desperately want her to change for the better. One thing I will say is that this film is listed as a comedy, and there are some funny moments, but this is definitely not Juno, Jason Reitman's and Diablo Cody's last project together. Young Adult isn't a coming of age story, it's about how some people cling onto their pasts as a means of hope for their future.
Grade: B
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