Young Adult (2011)

Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend, who is now happily married and has a newborn daughter.

Director:

Jason Reitman

Writer:

Diablo Cody

Stars:

Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlize Theron	...	Mavis Gary
Patton Oswalt	...	Matt Freehauf
Patrick Wilson	...	Buddy Slade
Elizabeth Reaser	...	Beth Slade
Collette Wolfe	...	Sandra Freehauf
Jill Eikenberry	...	Hedda Gary
Richard Bekins	...	David Gary
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Jan
Kate Nowlin	...	Mary Ellen Trantowski
Jenny Dare Paulin	...	Nipple Confusion Bassist
Rebecca Hart	...	Nipple Confusion Guitarist
Louisa Krause	...	Front Desk Girl
Elizabeth Ward Land	...	Sales Lady
Brian McElhaney	...	Book Associate
Hettienne Park	...	Vicki

Storyline

Mavis Gary, once the high school 'It Girl', now an alcoholic divorcée who writes a soon to be canceled young adult fiction series, makes the decision to return to her childhood home in Minnesota. There she embarks on a plan to win back her former sweetheart, Buddy. The fact that Buddy is now married with a baby doesn't dissuade her. Along the way, she forms a bond with Matt Freehauf, another former classmate, who has been left disabled by a beating he took from a bunch of jocks.

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Plot Keywords:

divorce | minnesota | classmate | alcoholic | baby | 

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Taglines:

Everyone gets old. Not everyone grows up

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 December 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Adultos jóvenes

Filming Locations:

JC Studios, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$310,263 (USA) (9 December 2011)

Gross:

$16,300,302 (USA) (17 February 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Denver and Delilah Productions, Indian Paintbrush

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS (as Datasat Digital Sound) SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the bar scene where Mavis meets Matt Freehauf, Mavis tells him about her 'disturbingly popular teen book series', and he asks her if it's about vampires. This is a blatant reference to _Twilight (2008)_, a film that Elizabeth Reaser (Beth Slade) starred in 2008.

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Goofs

The highway signs (I-35, I-535 & US Hwy 53) outside the Hampton Inn that Mavis checks into would seem to place Mercury, MN in the Duluth area, but the strip mall next door features a Chuck E. Cheese's, Raymour & Flanigan Furniture, and Liquid Ice. The nearest Chuck E. Cheese's are several hours away in the Minneapolis area. Raymour & Flanigan and Liquid Ice are chains only found in the Northeastern US (PA, NY, New England), and a highway sign seen after the interstate signs at the hotel is a New York State Route 35 sign supports that.

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Quotes

Mavis Gary: I hate this town! It's a hick, lake town that smells of fish shit!

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Connections

Featured in The Big Picture: February 2012 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Feel The Pain"
Written by J. Mascis (as J Mascis)
Performed by Dinosaur Jr.
Courtesy of Sire Records
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Reitman and Cody strike again

When Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody struck gold with "Juno" in 2007, they did so with a rare combination of contemporary wit, quirkiness and heart. Their four-year reunion in "Young Adult" won't be nearly as heralded, but it might arguably be a better film.

Although ironic when juxtaposed with its main character, a 37-year-old who hasn't gotten over her high school sweetheart, Reitman and Cody display obvious evidence of maturation. The subject and humor are decidedly darker, and the emotional energy more raw and challenging.

Charlize Theron stars as Mavis Gary, perhaps one of film's most hopelessly pathetic protagonists. Before giving the opening credit sequence its cue, Reitman puts Theron to work and paints a clear picture of spiraling drunken loneliness, reality TV and apathy toward responsibility. Appropriately, she's a young-adult fiction writer for a dwindling book series who's also a former prom queen. Theron is perfect for the role with her combination of in- concealable beauty and dramatic prowess. Mavis never becomes a caricature under her watch.

Unable to get past the fact that her high school boyfriend Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson) just had a baby, Mavis flees her depressing cyclical lifestyle in Minneapolis for her home town of Mercury, Minn. with the intention of winning him back.

Mavis' delusional and deceitful quest to be a home-wrecker proves maddening through much of the film at the slow-burn pace Reitman has dictated, and it becomes obvious that at some point the bubble on her misguided journey will burst into an ugly mess. Yet despite this foreseeable direction, the climax proves stirring and not without a set of surprises.

Adding to the complexity of Mavis reclaiming her past is Matt (Patton Oswalt), a former classmate she barely noticed because they were miles apart on the social spectrum. The two bond over their appreciation for (or dependency on) bourbon, and their relationship allows Theron's character a chance to blow off steam, albeit irresponsibly.

Mavis eventually remembers Matt as the "hate crime kid" because he was brutally beaten to the point of being disabled in high school at the hands of some jocks who thought he was gay. He serves as a strong comparison point for Mavis' high school experience throughout the film. Oswalt's wit also matches well with Cody's style and Matt actually turns into one of the better depictions of a disabled character probably ever. Other than the incident that caused it, we're not asked to sympathize excessively with his condition, nor do Mavis' snarky remarks about it come across as rude.

Cody's dialogue is much more restrained this time around; "Juno" is eons funnier as a result, but the sacrifice of laughs allows us to focus on the film as a character study of a woman who hasn't quite learned how to be an adult. The script's only deficiency comes from a crater- sized hole in Mavis' history. "Young Adult" deserves praise for being a film about living in the past that contains not a single flashback, but knowing more about Mavis' divorce and how she came to break up with Buddy the first time could have significantly informed the story, especially as to why Mavis willfully lives her life as the trainwreck it clearly is.

The film's climax helps a bit in this regard, and Mavis' epiphany avoids being cliché despite the obvious "appreciate what you have" motif. Part of the message oddly suggests that small- town folks lead purposeless lives for the sake of achieving some kind of blissful stasis, but at the same time the idea that all of us are broken people that need to affirm and trudge forward — not backward — with our various blemishes, will surely resonate.

~Steven C

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