Young Adult by Diablo Cody 8 out of 10

Young Adult by Diablo Cody
8 out of 10



Although not majestic or phenomenal, Young Adult is entertaining.

And Charlize Theron is very good.
Her role is complex and challenging, for the heroine combines intelligence, drive, perseverance, determination with goals that are loathsome.

Mavis Gary returns to her home town to reunite with her high school boyfriend, Buddy Wilson aka Patrick Wilson.
The fact that he is married and his wife has just given birth to a girl does not seem to matter for the protagonist.

It is also true that she has become a writer of YA books aka Destined for Young Adults and she seems to have adopted the thinking of the characters that populate her fiction.
When she comes back, she meets in the local bar with Matt Freehauf aka Patton Oswalt.

Matt has suffered a vicious attack that has left him with a disability- he walks with a cane now - when some monsters thought he was gay and tortured him for that.
Alas, Matt does not seem to be able to get over the traumatic experience and is negative and depressed.

He could and should be more optimistic, like another man, a cousin of the heroine, who is climbing rocks, instead of just sitting around, in spite of being forced to use a wheel chair.

Matt is cynical and when he hears a fellow disabled man talk about climbing, he says:

You mean rock crawling...

This character does play a good role in that he tries to prevent Mavis from attempting to wreck a marriage.
The woman gets drunk so often that the conclusion is she has a drinking problem, aside from other issues.

When she meets with Buddy, he wants to invite Matt to join them.
However, he is in love with his wife and daughter.

When he drinks for the occasion, he gives the impression that he may want to get close to his former girlfriend.
But it is her imagination and wishful thinking that cause her to misrepresent the standing of the man she had loved.

A climax is reached when the Slade family has a party for the daughter and Mavis is invited.
The writer wants to tel the proud father and host something in private.

In a bedroom, she tries to embrace and kiss the one she thinks is willing to run away with her.
But the man is appalled at the prospect.

He even pushes her away:

What is wrong with you?!

Mavis gets drunk afterwards.
She ruins an expensive silk dress and makes a scene.

Her monologue is interesting, sad, absurd and somewhat amusing.
In front of perhaps forty people, she talks about her desire to take the man she has loved away.

She says:

I could have had all this.
Buddy was my lover.
I was pregnant and could have raised that child and others.
But the child died.

After she laments and says more along the same lines, Buddy opens the garage doors.
He starts beating on a new set of drums!

His wife, Beth, is a drummer in a local amateur band, with other young mothers.
The drums are the surprise gift , but the effect is embarrassing and funny.

Unwittingly, the husband opened the doors just as Mavis was finishing her speech.

Why did you ask me here?
She asks her former lover.

I did not.
My wife did.

Mavis has sex with Matt, but I am not sure what the effect is on either of them.

Young Adult is a good film, if not overwhelming.