With “Young Adult” the writer and director behind “Juno” (2007) re-team and prove they have some growing up to do. In fact, the film about a teenage girl struggling with a pregnancy showed more maturity than this go round.
We meet Mavis (Charlize Theron), a novelist who writes about high school love in her failing YA series. This makes quick sense as we soon find out that Mavis is emotionally stunted. After a painful divorce, Mavis decides to return to her hometown of Nowhere, MN to rekindle her teenage love with Buddy (Patrick Wilson). Problem is Buddy is happily married with a newborn baby. This, sadly, does not stop Mavis.
Theron does a great job at bringing to life the most unlikable anti-hero to grace the screen in years. With no redeeming qualities, it’s too easy to pull against Mavis. With nothing at stake, the entire film feels minor and slight. One standout moment: One hell of an awkward love scene between a most unlikely pair. This is the third effort from writer Diablo Cody. She shows great promise. Maybe she can make a movie about real grown-ups one day to fulfill it. Might as well go and read “Twilight” instead.