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#297 - Young Adult
Jason Reitman, 2011
An author working on a young adult series heads to her hometown with the intention of pursuing her old high school sweetheart, who is now a married father.
Given how much I didn't care for Juno, it does seem surprising that I would even think about watching the second collaboration between director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody. Young Adult isn't that much of a step up, but at the very least it's a step up, and that's probably due to its very even-handed portrayal of its extremely difficult protagonist (Charlize Theron). Theron's character is an emotionally immature bachelorette whose extremely unfulfilling life in the big city (complete with publishers wondering where her next book is coming from) has also made her an alcoholic trainwreck, so of course she jumps at the chance to make an ill-advised return to the small town she originated from with some loose plan to seduce her ex-boyfriend (Patrick Wilson), who is now married and the father of a newborn baby. While in town, she strikes up an odd rapport with a dumpy former classmate (Patton Oswalt), who acts as a snarky foil to Theron's misguided plan to win back Wilson.
Unfortunately, Young Adult doesn't do anything especially remarkable to distinguish itself from a lot of other small-town quasi-independent dramedies. Theron delivers a good performance as an extremely flawed and unlikeable thirty-something whose refusal to let go of her past is tempered by a disdain for the various other characters she runs into, yet she never quite loses an audience's sympathy (especially with the inevitably sad reveal towards the end). Other performances are generally by-the-numbers, though Oswalt is notable as a nerdy loser who at least has some degree of acceptance about his own situation. The film also wins points over Juno for not being especially obnoxious in its depiction of the characters' various quirks, even if it does run through its fair share of clichés in the process (such as Theron's additions to her unfinished novel serving as a convenient device for narrating her own feelings about the film's plot). Young Adult does have enough quality to it so that it doesn't seem like a waste of time, but it still doesn't seem like it does all it can do with its fairly engaging premise.
Jason Reitman, 2011
An author working on a young adult series heads to her hometown with the intention of pursuing her old high school sweetheart, who is now a married father.
Given how much I didn't care for Juno, it does seem surprising that I would even think about watching the second collaboration between director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody. Young Adult isn't that much of a step up, but at the very least it's a step up, and that's probably due to its very even-handed portrayal of its extremely difficult protagonist (Charlize Theron). Theron's character is an emotionally immature bachelorette whose extremely unfulfilling life in the big city (complete with publishers wondering where her next book is coming from) has also made her an alcoholic trainwreck, so of course she jumps at the chance to make an ill-advised return to the small town she originated from with some loose plan to seduce her ex-boyfriend (Patrick Wilson), who is now married and the father of a newborn baby. While in town, she strikes up an odd rapport with a dumpy former classmate (Patton Oswalt), who acts as a snarky foil to Theron's misguided plan to win back Wilson.
Unfortunately, Young Adult doesn't do anything especially remarkable to distinguish itself from a lot of other small-town quasi-independent dramedies. Theron delivers a good performance as an extremely flawed and unlikeable thirty-something whose refusal to let go of her past is tempered by a disdain for the various other characters she runs into, yet she never quite loses an audience's sympathy (especially with the inevitably sad reveal towards the end). Other performances are generally by-the-numbers, though Oswalt is notable as a nerdy loser who at least has some degree of acceptance about his own situation. The film also wins points over Juno for not being especially obnoxious in its depiction of the characters' various quirks, even if it does run through its fair share of clichés in the process (such as Theron's additions to her unfinished novel serving as a convenient device for narrating her own feelings about the film's plot). Young Adult does have enough quality to it so that it doesn't seem like a waste of time, but it still doesn't seem like it does all it can do with its fairly engaging premise.