Review of Young Adult (2011) by Paige H — 08 Jan 2013

I recently took in Young Adult, starring the usually lovely Charlize Theron and written by Diablo Cody (Juno). I enjoyed Juno and think Cody has a unique and quite entertaining writing style, but I had also heard some negative reviews so I went into this film pretty open to it being completely awful or perhaps very enjoyable. Even since seeing the film I don't think I have come to a conclusion on that one, but perhaps if I keep writing I will eventually realise whether I loved it, hated it or won't remember it in the long run.

It was marketed as a comedy but I think at the basis of this entire film is a character that is completely damaged and this isn't necessarily funny. Some of the things Mavis does are humorous, some of the situations she finds herself in are hilarious, but ultimately she is poisonous and sad. I guess you could call it a black comedy then. The fact that the character isn't endearing is the entire point of the film I think - we're not rooting for Mavis to end up with Buddy, we're cringing and grimacing as she does awful thing after awful thing, hoping she will just stop and go away. I think what I liked about it is that, although not relatable, Mavis is recognisable. There are definitely people I've come across with that same deep-rooted self obsession and misguided belief that their looks outweigh the fact that they are not nice on the inside. I always thought it was just the narcissistic gen-Y.

I must say I loved Patty Oswalt as Matt, I thought that character was well-rounded and thoroughly three dimensional. Again, I didn't necessarily like him but I thought his acting was natural, his storyline was unusual and he was a great pairing with Mavis as a sort-of partner in crime (or alcoholism).

The problem I had with the film was that it was a little too slow - films based heavily on characters rather than situations take time to build up, I understand that, but I just thought some of the scenes where the dialogue was minimal and the drinking heavy could have been cut down. It messed with the pace a little.

Overall, it was better than I expected and I found myself so interested in the character of Mavis that I enjoyed the film regardless of the poor pacing and unlikeable characters.