Review of Young Adult (2011) by Jillian L — 30 May 2013

To start with, I love Juno, I own it, so I was looking forward to this new collaboration between Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody. For the most part, it didn't disappoint. It had a similar feel to Juno, but with more grown up characters.

Well. Then there was Charlize Theron's character. Who is so stuck in high school she ghostwrites for a Sunset Valley-esque YA book series. She was what really made this movie. I absolutely loved her performance.

She was equal parts funny and actually a little sad. Which is where the movie faltered for me unfortunately. It makes this huge shift near the end and suddenly, it's not funny any more. It's just really sad.

Suddenly her problems are very real, like she should probably be treated for them. So I'm thinking at least she'll learn something. But there's only like 10 minutes left in the movie. From there, it's very hastily and messily wrapped up and I found myself wondering what the point of any of it was.

Well, all that aside, the first 3/4 of the movie are really funny and enjoyable. As for the rest of the cast, Patton Oswalt was very funny, Patrick Wilson was very good, with him, I could see how Theron's character liked him, but it was balanced nicely with wanting to ask her what she was thinking.

I also really liked Elizabeth Reaser as the wife. She was very real and funny and I felt so bad for her at the end. Overall, this is pretty funny and deserves a watch, for Charlize Theron's performance if anything.