Review of Young Adult (2011) by Valerie P — 08 Sep 2013

I'm not quite sure where the critics were coming from on this one; I side with the overall audience reaction of "meh".

Charlize Theron plays a disillusioned author who can't seem to get past high school - even some ten years later. She had it all back then, but as her teen novels lose popularity and her life begins to lose all sense of meaning, she decides that a visit to her hometown would be the perfect pick-me-up.

Not surprisingly, life has moved on without its highschool sweetheart. Her old boyfriend is a new dad, and she ends up spending more time hanging out with the school nerd.

Some may call this film "daring and different", but I found it all a bit wishy-washy and pathetic. I found it difficult to have any sympathy for Theron's character, and thought the "black comedy" was more like bleak boredom.

Please, Charlize, if you're about to make another film like this one in future, just spare us.