Despite bypassing my local cinema when
it was making the rounds, I did manage to get a copy of a movie I've
been so eagerly anticipating. The latest by director Jason Reitman,
Young Adult.
Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) is a
self-obsessed writer of young adult novels who finds out that her
high school boyfriend, Buddy (Patrick Wilson) has just had a baby
with his wife, Beth (Elizabeth Reaser). Taking that as a sign, she
trots back to her home town, in an effort to get him back.
(Insert obligatory spoiler alert here)
A simple story, but the neat thing is
the execution. If this were a lighthearted, wacky comedy, Mavis would
still be unsympathetic but she'd learn a few things along her quest
and she'd end up a better person for it. The wife of her former
boyfriend would end up being an unlike-able bitch by the end of it,
thus giving a justification for the two of them to get together,
guilt-free.
Yeah, this isn't a lighthearted, wacky
comedy and that crap doesn't happen here. Mavis learns very little
and is convinced this is HER story, it's all about HER. SHE is the
young adult in the title. Because she's still stuck in high school.
When she returns to her hometown, many still regard her as the queen
bitch from school. And it doesn't help by the fact that she still
acts like a bitch. Hell, she's invited to the naming ceremony for
Buddy's daughter and she's all glammed up.
And that is really the key theme to the
film: being stuck in one place in time. Mavis is still thinking like
a teenager and it shows in many ways, not just with what I've
described above. There's a scene at the naming ceremony in which she
makes a move on Buddy, and she uses some dialogue she overheard from
two teens, saying he's “My moon, my stars, my galaxy”. Hell, her
room in her parents house seems to be virtually untouched since she
used to live there. And I should point out she's 37.
Even the big confrontation at the
ceremony, it's all “Me me me” with her. It's all about how things
should have gone with Buddy and her. This scene, by the way, holds
some damn fine dialogue and acting from Charlize Thereon, who is on
fire in this movie.
And Patrick Wilson, as the good-natured
Buddy, shouldn't be overlooked. He's smarter than he lets on and
friendly as all Hell.
And Elizabeth Reaser is a charming
character, nice as pie, and the complete antithesis of Mavis.
A character I haven't mentioned yet is
Matt, played by Patton Oswalt. He went to school with Mavis and
Buddy, and while suffering from a disability thanks to a horrible
attack on him during those school years, he's not obsessed with it.
OK, he's still a little bitter about it but that ties in to the high
school thing, too: of all the people who could be stuck in their high
school phase, we wouldn't begrudge him for being hung up on the event
that changes the course of his life. But he's really not. He's dealt
with it, makes the odd sarcastic joke or two, but otherwise, he's
moved on. And by-the-by, Patton's really good in this role, he makes
for a good comedic foil.
There's really not much else to say,
though that doesn't mean it's a bad film, lord no! It's just that the
film relies on the characters and dialogue and I've covered that. I'm
a huge fan of Diablo Cody's work (yes, even Jennifer's Body, which
I'll probably get to one day) and Jason Reitman's, so the two of them
working together again is always something I look forward to. And I
hope it does happen again. Until such time, a solid film with a high
recommendation from me. 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment