Before I saw this film I was getting ready to hate it. Then something weird happened: Young Adult turned out to be one gem of a film.
This is directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Diablo Cody, you say! Do I love Juno? I enjoyed it, but it gave me too much slang. Jennifer’s Body is a parody of teenage horror films, and it worked perfectly.
Young Adult is about failure and sadness, and it is spot-on.
Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) writes young adult novels. She looks perpetually disheveled and miserable, gulping Coke like a thirsty sailor first thing in the morning. One day, while trying to work on the last book in the series, she receives an email from an old flame. He is now married, with child. Mavis, in her depression, gets this brilliant idea: What if I steal my ex-boyfriend from his wife?
Unlike in Cody’s previous films, characters here do not talk constantly (most of the time we are forced to simply observe Mavis – as she puts on make-up, as she stares at herself, as she turns her back to us to gorge on KFC), and when they do, they are more blunt than witty.
I love this film. That is all I am going to say. Watch it.
Eliza Victoria 