RBR: Young Adult

With Juno writer Diablo Cody became the lastest 'it' writer in Hollywood. But after Jennifer's Body flopped, Cody came back down to Earth. Now in her latest collaboration with director Jason Reitman, Cody has proven that she still has the ability to tell an effective story. This one focuses on an entitled, delusional young adult novelist named Mavis (Theron) who comes back to her small Minnesota hometown in an attempt to win back her high school boyfriend. Both the audience and the periphery charcters in the film cringe as we watch her foolishly try to woo her ex who is now married with a kid and shows no desire in infidelity. One of those sideline characters is Matt (played by Patton Oswalt), a former classmate of hers that she never gave the time of day to back when they were in high school. He becomes a partner-in-crime/confidant to her and gives a very good performance in doing so. There are moments in this film that I found riveting, especially in Theron's depiction of her character. However, I feel the film sags a bit in the middle as it becomes unclear where any of this is going or why she's still bothering to cling to this past life. We do get some clarity in the final act - a revelation comes out that is meant to be a surprise but is odd in its placement. It didn't seem realistic that this bit about Mavis' past would not have been mentioned by anybody in the film prior to that point. With that said, I'm glad it was included because it explains a lot about why Mavis behaves throughout the whole film and makes us empathize with her if not like her a bit more because of it. This is a good film, but probably a notch below Reitman's other efforts. Still if you enjoy the people involved with this film or are looking for a quiet drama to offset the noisy action films you typically watch, this one is worth a rental. Rating: *** 1/2