Review of Young Adult (2011) by Udwari — 26 Dec 2011

Young Adult - about a 37-year-old woman (Theron) who becomes intent on getting her high school sweetheart back after learning of the birth of his first child. Delusional, depressed and battling alcoholism, Theron leaves the "miniapple" for her hometown of Mercury, MN, on a mission to "fix" her life.

I was drawn to Theron's character, Mavis, from the start - she is that girl we have all known at some point in our life: beautiful prom queen, captain of the cheer leading squad, and bound to have a perfect life. That girl who firmly believes the universe rotates around her stardom. Until she wakes up one morning to find herself divorced, stifled in a going-nowhere career, hungover and 37 years-old, unable to rely on her beauty laurels any longer.

The film is a painful journey through Theron's absolute mental collapse. We cringe as she gets drunk yet again and makes a scene at Buddy's (her high school sweetheart) daughter's naming ceremony. We are appalled at her nervous habit of pulling chunks of hair out of her head - a nasty habit that requires her to wear a partial wig to cover up the bald spots.

Theron's acting is incredible. Her character is raw and believable, even if quite unlikable. But her stellar performance is not the only noteworthy one. Theron's high school classmate Matt is a cripple; made that way by a couple of high school jocks who nearly beat him to death because they thought he was gay. This unlikely duo grows close during the film, finding comfort in each other's failures. Their friendship culminates in what I believe to be the highlight of the film: Mavis returns drunk from a party, having embarrassed herself in front of the entire town, finally realizing that her self-destruction and vanity must come to an end if she's ever to change. Her blouse is covered in red wine and she asks for Matt's shirt. Without giving too much away, the scene that ensues is touching and awkward and, well, beautifully sad.

I liked Young Adult. It was slow and pitiful, but Matt and Mavis are two extraordinarily developed characters that make the film. Theron deserves some kind of award for her performance, as she embodies two extremes - beauty and drunken beastliness - with ease.