Director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody shot to prominence when they first teamed up for the teen pregnancy comedy Juno. Though Reitman had already made his feature film debut with Thank You For Smoking, Juno was undoubtedly his biggest success. It was Cody's first produced screenplay for which she won the Academy Award. Reitman followed it up with the superior dramedy Up in the Air while Cody unfurled the critically reviled horror-comedy Jennifer's Body. Reitman and Cody put the band back together for Young Adult, a film that is the absolute antithesis of Juno.
Where Juno was a snappy and breezy comedy about a teen more mature than some of the adults around her. Young Adult is a darkly humorous tale of an adult trapped in a self-destructive, adolescent mindset.
Charlize Theron plays it to the hilt as Mavis Gary, a ghost writer for a teen lit series that serves as an obvious nod to Cody's next project, an adaptation of Sweet Valley High. She lives in a high rise apartment in Minneapolis where she spends much of her time chugging Diet Coke out of a 2-liter bottle, keeping up with the Kardashians on TV, and struggling to finish her latest book.
One day, she receives an email from the wife of her high school boyfriend announcing the arrival of their new baby. In her twisted mind, Mavis sees this as a challenge and returns to her small hometown of Mercury to rescue her ex from his marital prison. Said beau is Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson), who certainly seems happy in the role of husband and father. Nevertheless, nothing will deter Mavis from her mission, not even the common sense advice of another former classmate, Matt Freehauf (a perfectly cast Patton Oswalt).
They meet in a bar and it takes a while for Mavis to jog her memory, despite the fact that Matt's locker was right next to hers. Nicknamed by Mavis as the "hate crime guy," Matt was the victim of a brutal beating by the jocks, who were under the mistaken belief that he was gay. The attack has left him with a permanent limp. Much like Mavis, he doesn't have much of a life. He lives with his sister, Sandra (Collette Wolfe), where he customizes action figures and brews homemade bourbon he calls the "Mos Eisley Special Reserve."
Young Adult shatters the unwritten rule of Hollywood that the protagonist must be sympathetic and likable. One character aptly describes her as a "psychotic prom queen bitch." She is the proverbial mean girl, who has returned to make life hell for everyone around her. Mavis is thoroughly self-centered and borderline delusional. She avoids her parents and isn't particularly nice to Matt, the one person who seems to tolerate being in her presence. The only other friend she has is her little Pomeranian, Dolce, and Mavis winds up ignoring him too.
The relationship between Mavis and Matt could hardly be categorized as a friendship. They more or less fall into a co-dependent symbiosis. Deep down inside Matt still fawns over Mavis and it's obvious he gets a kick over finally gaining the notice of the popular girl. For Mavis, she likes the attention and, perhaps, she sees in him someone just as broken as she is.
Though blonde and statuesque, Mavis is a white hot mess in a Hello Kitty t-shirt and proof positive that beauty is only skin deep. Theron doesn't need the extra weight or make-up to bring out the ugly in Mavis the way she did for Aileen Wuornos in Monster. She's almost a pitiable person and a gut wrenching revelation at the most awkward of times peels back the layers in her complex personality. It's at this point that Young Adult cleverly goes against conventions. Just when you think Mavis may change for the better, she has a one-on-one chat with Sandra that reinforces her narcissistic point of view. Hey, I am better than these people so fuck 'em.
Diablo Cody's dialogue isn't the hyper-stylized speech found in Juno. The writing is more subdued. The one line that is clearly Cody-esque comes when Mavis refers to a combination KFC/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut as a "KenTacoHut."
The soundtrack to Young Adult accentuates Mavis's rose colored nostalgia by utilizing a veritable smorgasbord of alternative rock hits from the early-90's. There's the Lemonheads, Dinosaur Jr., 4 Non Blondes, and Veruca Salt. Listen closely and you'll hear subtle instrumental versions of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam by Juno composer Mateo Messina. The opening credits feature a series of extreme close-ups of the inner workings of a cassette and tape player as Mavis throws in an old mixtape of Buddy's for the road trip. She listens to Teenage Fanclub's "The Concept" incessantly as the lyrics, "I didn't mean to hurt you..." repeat over and over as the movie's unofficial theme.
Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody have boldly crafted a character study of a wholly unsympathetic person, who does not grow or learn over the course of the film. Young Adult shines as a black comedy that derives humor from cringe-inducing moments and the incredible performance from Charlize Theron.
Rating: *** (*****)
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