Young Adult is not as strong as Jason Reitman’s last outing Up in the Air, though that is like my favorite film, but it is still a strong picture. Charlize Theron obviously steals the show here and hopefully gets an Oscar nom. Patrick Wilson isn’t too bad either but really I wonder why Patton Oswalt is in this. For one, the injury they give him in the film doesn’t help change Theron’s character and it just seems like a useless add-on. I came out of the film last night enjoying it quite a bit but now when I think about it more, it is still good but man, the scenes with Oswalt, especially his awkward last scene, just seem like roadblocks. I do appreciate that the film is not all happy at the end and not everything is fully resolved. ***

Review: http://www.worldofkj.com/article.php?i=544

To respond to jmovies: I feel the Patton Oswalt character is fascinating and important because he is so different from the Theron character, yet so similar. Both deeply unhappy people still caught in a moment in time, from their high school days. The same creeping dread is eating at the souls of both of them, even though she's beautiful and urbane, whereas he's an overweight cripple still stranded in Mercury. I loved how neither learned much of a lesson from the other. They sleep together, but it feels sad and pathetic and cheap. This movie does a terrific job undermining the whole My Ántonia "return to the past to better understand one's self and the present" narrative. It's brutal.

The one moment I just hate is Patrick Wilson's "We felt sorry for you" line. It's just too...I don't know. Easy. It absolves his character and the other people on the lawn too much. The movie pulls away quickly thankfully.

I loved it. I'd be sad if Charlize doesn't get a nom for this, she's brilliant here.

Young Adult is a solid movie elevated to a higher level by the superb work of Charlize Theron, who does so much with her mannerisms and line deliveries in this film. Mavis, as written by Diablo Cody, could have been a one-note, cartoony bitch (something more like the over-the-top comedy of Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher, for example), but Theron's wonderful performance is full of subtleties and acting choices that makes her one of the most interesting protagonists of the year. Leaving Theron's performance aside, the film itself is not as good as Reitman's past two films, Up in the Air and Juno. The movie itself is occasionally uncomfortable and there are awkward tonal shifts. And Cody's screenplay is generally well-written but not as sharp as Juno's. Patton Oswalt does surprisingly effective dramatic work, but this is Theron's film from start to finish. It's a commanding lead performance that reinforces her status as one of the best talents in the industry today. B+

Indeed, indeed.

No. No no no no no.

I've ceaselessly defended Jason Reitman in the past, against the most vocal and stupid of his detractors, but this is a complete turd and he's in director's jail until further notice. I'm out. I hated every condescending and misanthropic minute of this turkey. It's one thing for the central character to be uninteresting--and she was certainly guilty of that--but the conception of her was just so phony and writerly. I didn't believe the Mavis character for a second.

This was so terrible that at one point I realized I was intensely jealous of the people watching Jack and Jill in the theatre next door. I would award this movie zero stars if I didn't feel that would be giving it too much credit.

Oh come on, it was not that bad at all lol. Didn't you at least think Charlize was good? She's so good in this movie, even when the screenplay is kinda sorta letting her down at certain points.

Johnny Dollar is terrifying, so I don't want to get into an argument , but I honestly thought this was the most "honest" movie Reitman has made to date. Mavis is an odd character, but I completely believed in her, and its dumpy Midwest milieu feels just right. And it doesn't have the feel-good real-people montages which softened and Hollywood-ized Up in the Air, though UitA is still maybe the most all around satisfying Reitman picture.

I liked Patton Oswalt a lot here. He was the heart of this movie. Otherwise, Reitman is better than this. Cody, probably not...

Huh. Look at that.

Anyway, have I mentioned how terrible this is? Also I'm done giving Charlize Theron chances. Her "acclaimed" performances--this, Monster, North Country--all belong on any short list of the worst movies of the 21st century. Think next time, woman, think.

Thank you for reminding me that they wasted Patrick Wilson. God! Ugh! I love Patrick Wilson!

This movie has committed so many crimes. It deserves its own Nuremberg Trials.

When the movie started out, I thought I was going to love it but the more it went on, the more I started to like it more than anything. Charlize Theron is great, though I don't think she's so deserving of an Oscar nomination with there being so many other worthy performances this year. Patton Oswalt was also good, though not worthy of a nomination. I really hated some of this movie. I understand that it's supposed to make you feel uncomfortable and uneasy, but there was just too much hate in this movie.

***SPOILERS***

The lead character was just such an awful person with no redeeming qualities at all. I'm all for flawed characters but this person was just a despicable human being. Then at the end they try to pull the "she is a sick individual" bullshit? I don't think so. It was just a lame excuse for her being such a cunt. I could not believe that she slept with Oswalt's character. I understand WHY it happened, but it was just so... I don't even know. It left a sour taste in my mouth.

***END SPOILERS***

In closing, I really didn't hate it but it could have been so much more.

7/10 (though the more I think about it, after writing all this, I may lower it to a 6/10. I didn't realize how much beef I had with this movie )

Uh, the ending doesn't absolve or justify her behavior at all. It just leaves her as she is, returning to the city without having learned any Hollywood style small-town lessons.

Really? Then I must have imagined the scene after the naming ceremony where she goes to Oswalt's garage and says how she's sick and there is something wrong with her. She was making excuses for her behavior.

Yes, but then the movie, in an awesome move, gives her an opportunity to leave Mercury with her head high--via Oswalt's sister's desperate, pathetic speech. It teases the audience into expecting a "she learns a lesson" ending, but then pulls the rug out.

Now I haven't seen the movie, but a general comment:

How can anyone "waste" Patrick Wilson - one of the blandest name actors in business?!!

Yeah... well... Young Adult never ended up gettin' it's shit together.

With this, her first strike, Diablo Cody is batting .666 after knocking her first two pitches outta the park.

I dug the downer tone, the degenerate humor, and (as always) Charlize Theron - - but it was just too easy to see the man behind the curtain pulling the levers in this unfortunate tale.

It didn't help that it had that Pixar rat guy from King of Queens and El-Blando himself: Patrick Wilson.

Whatever!


2 out of 5.

Heh - - I'm not the most negative guy in the thread this time!






Heh heh - - I hadn't read this before using the exact same descriptor in my review above.

I loved this! It can be rather uncomfortable to watch at times (the scene on the lawn definitely comes to mind), but I thought it was great how the film didn't bother trying to redeem the main character in the end. Mavis is a terribly unlikeable character, and also an utterly fascinating one, made all the more so by the award-worthy performance from Charlize Theron. I also loved Patton Oswalt. Both should get Oscar nominations.

This really didn't even feel like something written by Diablo Cody. I must give her credit. She seems to have grown as a writer. Gone is the hip dialogue, replaced by something that feels more... real.

Great movie.

A-

I know she didn't have much to do in this but I really enjoyed Elizabeth Reaser in it. I've always liked her. There's just this warmth about her.

I thought Collette Wolfe gave the third best performance of the film.

Was that the sister? She was great too.

You know, I kinda liked it until the ending...Oswalt's sister's speech...what kind of a fucked up message is that?

Oh and I hate the dialogue moments where Cody is still trying to sound so hip and cool...