Review of Young Adult (2011) by Matt G — 16 Jul 2012

What a strange movie. Not as excruciating as Juno, but still a completely confused mess of a character study. So much so that it scares me a little bit. I wish that I had not seen this movie. Because every successfully insightful, moving moment feels at least slightly contrived or over-written in some way. The events never feel natural, the emotions never feel real.

The one thing that has stayed the same throughout Jason Reitman's career is the fact that he is the king of directing screenplays that never translate past the screenplay stage. Which is to say that these stories should have stayed screenplays because they do not work well as movies. So, in this way, I'm glad he exists as a director because this notion is completely mind-blowing to me.