You've Got It Bad Girl- Young Adult Review

Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) doing everything she can to win back her man

     Just imagine that worst-case scenario version of seventeen year-old yourself. Think of all of your little quirks you had then, those annoying and frustrating habits that you've been able to lessen or eliminate from growing up or gaining some life experience.

     Now just imagine that version of yourself is 37 and completely unchanged from that petulant and socially inappropriate teenager, and even worse, blithely oblivious that that kind of behavior is not expected or even wanted anymore. This is a good starting place to try to describe the ballsy, slightly manic, and always delusional Mavis Gary, Charlize Theron's protagonist in the new comedy "Young Adult" from writer Diablo Cody ("Juno," TV's "United States of Tara") and Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air" and "Juno").

     Mavis is a mess. As a writer of a series of young adult "Sweet Valley of the Traveling Pants"-style novels (that was recently canceled) about popular blonde girls whose intelligence and smarts are like obviously ignored because they're so popular and beautiful, she spends most of her time recovering from her hangover from the previous night, drinking vast amounts of Diet Coke, and procrastinating from finishing her final book by online shopping and watching "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" for inspiration. It's not a full life, but she's so happy if for nothing else then to be living in the Big City (Minneapolis) and not in her tiny little hometown of Mercury, Minnesota.




     But when she receives an email from her high school beau (played with that "used to be dreamboat" charm by Patrick Wilson) announcing the birth of his new baby, Mavis in her joyously delusion decides to go home, and win him back because he was so like the love of her life.

     After the huge success (and Oscar win) of "Juno," and the eventual flop of its follow-up "Jennifer's Body," I figured it would take years before writer Diablo Cody found a new voice that suited her and her talents, but I was wrong; "Young Adult" is her best script yet. Instead of turning up the potential polish and Juno quip-heavy dialogue, she goes harder and more bitingly for the raw edges and naturalistic dialogue. She forces the laughs out by the sheer embarrassment we feel for Mavis as she continues to make social blunder and blunder, and maybe because we see so much of ourselves in her as well. It doesn't hurt to have one of the best actresses working reading your lines and fleshing out this character though.

    Since it's been a few years since Charlize Theron had much work on the screen, you forget how goddamn talented this woman really is. She really knocks it out of the park this time around.

     Using her stunning good looks and surprising wit (you forget how funny she is) as her best accessories to fashion this character with, she is able to make this seemingly impenetrable ice princess into someone we not only can watch but someone we care about. Theron's able to let just enough of Mavis's obvious cracks show through her ten pounds of makeup in little moments (mostly through unspoken eye rolls, facial expressions, etc.), that by the time she really falls apart we're heartbroken for her.

     Director Jason Reitman's hand is far more invisible this time than in past efforts like "Up in the Air," but I think that helps the mood. Problematically I felt like the look of the film is a bit flat. The cinematography and the lighting are so desaturated and severe that it makes it look all small towns are dreary and sad, but that's a minor quibble.

      Comedian Patton Oswalt is also quiet lovely as a sad and crippled former high school nerd from Mavis's class who finds an unlikely connection with the "psychotic prom queen bitch." He acts as her conscience; continuing to try to get her to see the error of her ways and move on, but eventually, like Mavis, he just wants to be loved too.

      I think that's the beautiful (and scary) thing about Mavis and "Young Adult." If we related and empathizing to her, completely, we'd be worried for ourselves, but since already she's so shattered, we pick up one, two, or more of her fragmented behaviors, and can put ourselves in exactly the mindset she's going through. We find ourselves. Grade: A-