Young Adult | Review
‘Young Adult’ is a unique film in that it features a protagonist that isn’t likable in the slightest. Actually, there’s several aspects about this film that don’t exactly follow the usual storytelling formula. The film is unpredictable because of its erratic protagonist and features an ending typically unacceptable in Hollywood. However, through the collaboration of talented individuals such as director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody, and especially the great performances of Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt, this film works.
The protagonist, Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron), is a crazy alcoholic and semi-successful author of a popular (or used to be popular?) book series, and who used to be the popular prom queen type back in high school. Nowadays she chugs 2-liters of Diet Coke with ease, alcoholic drinks with even more ease, is divorced, the only thing that seems to love her is her pet dog, and she’s obviously unhappy. When Mavis finds out her ex-boyfriend just had a baby with his wife, she leaves Minneapolis to her hometown of Mercury, Minnesota to try to win the guy back. It’s a little sad seeing how delusional this Mavis character is throughout ‘Young Adult’.
We never really root for Mavis to succeed in her insane goal of winning over her ex-boyfriend, but it’s interesting to see her try. In her mind, Buddy (Patrick Wilson), the ex-boyfriend, is unhappy and trapped in a loveless marriage, and she’s his savior. With such a delusional protagonist, the film requires a rational character opposite to Mavis. This comes in the form of Matt Freehauf (Patton Oswalt), who went to high school with Mavis and Buddy, though they weren’t necessarily friends; she calls him “That hate crime guy.”
Patton Oswalt (‘Ratatouille’) is an absolute delight in ‘Young Adult’. Oswalt provides some of the funniest moments in the film, and his humor seems to come naturally to him; he should definitely have more starring roles. His character of Matt is much more likable than Mavis – well, any character is more likable than Mavis, really. He’s “The hate crime guy” because back in high school he was attacked and ended up with a broken leg and penis because some guys thought he was gay (he isn’t). This depressing and unfortunate incident makes us feel sorry and sad for Matt in ways we can’t feel for Mavis.
The unlikely pairing and quirky “friendship” between Mavis and Matt is entertaining and even funny at times. Matt knows she’s crazy and tries constantly to convince Mavis that her plan to win over her ex-boyfriend would never work. Even though Mavis disagrees with Matt’s logic, they remain friends and drinking buddies. This unusual pairing works in the film.
‘Young Adult’ is director Jason Reitman’s fourth feature film, after ‘Thank You for Smoking’, ‘Juno’ and ‘Up in the Air’. I’ve seen both ‘Juno’ and ‘Up in the Air’, both fantastic films. With ‘Young Adult’, Reitman continues his nice track record of directing great films. This film is also screenwriter Diablo Cody’s second collaboration with Reitman, after having written ‘Juno’. Diablo Cody is a talented and unique writer. She’s very confident with her material and knows exactly how to execute her stories the way she wants them to be told, such as when she wrote the purposefully campy and weird ‘Jennifer’s Body’. With ‘Young Adult’, Cody takes an unorthodox approach to the story by having Mavis not learning her lesson by the end of the film. In fact, by the end of the film Mavis may actually be worse than she was at the beginning of the film, which is pretty bad.
Diablo Cody’s decision to have Mavis learn nothing from her terrible actions is a nice and unconventional touch. Most films require its characters to learn their lessons by the end, but why do they have to end like that? Why can’t these films merely present their characters at a point in time where they’re still in the process of learning, as Cody does with Mavis in ‘Young Adult’? Mavis makes terrible decisions all throughout the film, and she still doesn’t learn her lesson at the end. Maybe she will some time in the future, but the film doesn’t have to show it. The story is here and now, and that’s all that matters in this film.
‘Young Adult’ is another winner from director Jason Reitman. Charlize Theron’s performance as the terrible Mavis Gary is great, as she’s fully committed to making such a beautiful face appear as such a terrible and ugly person.
