Young Adult Review

19th Jun 2012

Charlize Theron plays Mavis, the ‘Psychotic prom queen bitch’, and psychotic she certainly is. Mavis seems to have it all; she’s left her small town for the big city, she’s a successful writer and still as gorgeous as ever. But the reality is that her career is on the skids and isn’t really enviable to begin with. The pre-teen drivel she ghost-writes isn’t selling anymore, though she’s still at it, cadging her best lines from teens she’s encounters. More worryingly, the novels aren’t even really fiction, they are just an extension of the way that Mavis thinks. Still. At 37.

Her well-above-average looks mask a creeping tendency to self-harm and a descent into alcoholism. They’re also a vehicle for her to destroy her self-worth with a string of encounters with men she’s completely unable to connect with on all but one level. All in all, Mavis is suffering from some serious psychological problems that have rendered her completely unable to function as an adult. Instead of recognising the root of them, her way of life, she feels that stealing her ex-boyfriend Buddy from the clutches of his wife and their newborn baby is just the cure. But it’s not just for her sake, in her head it’s become almost a rescue mission for her; Buddy must be miserable in his suburban existence and as his soul mate it’s up to her to save him from it.

She displays absolutely no boundaries where her own emotions are concerned. Her encounters with Buddy are always excruciating, especially as she courts him as if he’s a character in one of her horrendous novels – “Buddy, you’re my moon. My stars. You’re my whole galaxy”, is one of the many gems she’s picked up from eavesdropping on some teens. The scenes where she’s with Beth, Buddy’s wife, are the most telling though as they are incomparable as two women; Mavis simply cannot compete on any level.

The movie really picks up pace towards the end, when Mavis careers into a car-wreck confrontation with her Buddy, his wife and about fifty of their friends and family. Any glimmer of redemption is quickly suppressed and Mavis leaves with her crumbling facade and not enough self loathing.

Young Adult is a poignant, accurate portrayal of a girl who never grew up to realise she never really had it all and any potential she had has been wasted through an all-consuming ego.

Charlize Theron delivers another perfect performance as a fragile, but obnoxious women stuck in a mental rut. Regressing further and further into her teens, her golden years, she is thoroughly unlikeable. It’s a credit to Theron that you feel a slither of concern for Mavis. The ending is suitably pessimistic and grounded in reality.

Diablo Cody delivers another tightly scripted film, although with the trailer being littered with great one-liners, I thought this was going to be a comedy in the vein of Bad Teacher, but it’s anything but that (thank God). Cody and director Jason Reitner worked on Juno together, but this reminds me more of Thank You For Smoking, in terms of an honest, pacey short film that delivers more than it promises.