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.
Thirty-seven year old Mavis Gary seems incapable of happiness. She has had one failed marriage with no romance in her immediate horizon. She ghosts writes a young adult series of books, which has just been canceled due to low sales. She is in the process of writing the last book, with which she is having a mental block. She lives vicariously through Kendall Strickland, the teenaged female heroine in her books, as like Kendall she believes her high school years were the best years of her life when she was the prom queen. When she receives news that her high school beau, Buddy Slade, and his wife, Beth Slade, have just had their first child, Mavis takes it as a sign that she and Buddy are meant to be together. As such, she devises a false pretense to travel from her Minneapolis home back her her old hometown of Mercury, Minnesota to reclaim Buddy from Beth. As Mavis slyly or not so slyly does whatever she can to hang out with Buddy, even in Beth's company if need be, she also runs into ...Written by
Huggo
When they were casting the movie, Jason Reitman asked Diablo Cody what she thought about Patton Oswalt for the role of Matt, and if the writer knew the actor's work. Cody replied deadpan: "Are you serious?" This, of course, because Oswalt was a semi-regular actor on Cody's television show, United States of Tara (2009). See more »
Goofs
When Charlize Theron is sitting in KFC, the cup says KGC from one angle and then KFC from another. While thought to be a mistake, the cup reads "KGC" because for a short while, Kentucky Fried Chicken tried to rebrand itself as Kentucky Grilled Chicken, offering a healthier option to their original fried chicken. The cup bears the new, short-lived KGC logo. See more »
Quotes
Mavis Gary:
Hey, do you know this girl named Beth? She married Buddy Slade from school.
Sandra Freehauf:
Yeah, I know that Beth.
Mavis Gary:
What do you think of her?
Sandra Freehauf:
I don't really like her. I mean, I think you're way prettier than she is. What happened to your dress? I'm sorry, did I say something wrong? Shit. What's wrong? What did I say?
Mavis Gary:
I have a lot of problems.
Sandra Freehauf:
Can't you get a new dress?
Mavis Gary:
It's really difficult for me to be happy. And then for other people it just seems so simple. I know. They just grow up and they're so fulfilled.
Sandra Freehauf:
I ...
[...] See more »
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 See more »
Depressed upon discovering that her former high school beau is happily married with an infant daughter, a young adult fiction writer sets out to win her old boyfriend back in this dark comedy from Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody. For a film marketed as a comedy, the laughs are few and far between, but that is not necessarily a bad thing as 'Young Aduilt' challenges one to think about whether what the authoress is going through is humorous, sad, pathetic, absurd or all of the above. Given how despicable her character is (wanting to tear apart a happy marriage; constantly dismissing an injured former classmate), Charlize Theron miraculously comes off as sympathetic the whole way through. It takes some suspension of disbelief to accept that she really does think that her plan will work, but Theron is always convincing in her quiet scenes and her growing sense of longing and regret is easy to relate to. What also works quite well is how Theron realises for the first time on her quest that the popularity of her book series is truly declining. Her world seems to be coming apart at the seams, and there is also a lot to like in how she uses her quest as fuel for penning her final novel at the same time. The book series is what she has used in order to delude herself into believing that she is still young, and with it on the decline, she finally has to grow up. 'Young Adult' is really a very apt title for the film in this regard. Patton Oswalt delivers has a solid supporting turn here too, but this is Theron's film the whole way as she renders her sour character with a nefarious plan utterly human.
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Depressed upon discovering that her former high school beau is happily married with an infant daughter, a young adult fiction writer sets out to win her old boyfriend back in this dark comedy from Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody. For a film marketed as a comedy, the laughs are few and far between, but that is not necessarily a bad thing as 'Young Aduilt' challenges one to think about whether what the authoress is going through is humorous, sad, pathetic, absurd or all of the above. Given how despicable her character is (wanting to tear apart a happy marriage; constantly dismissing an injured former classmate), Charlize Theron miraculously comes off as sympathetic the whole way through. It takes some suspension of disbelief to accept that she really does think that her plan will work, but Theron is always convincing in her quiet scenes and her growing sense of longing and regret is easy to relate to. What also works quite well is how Theron realises for the first time on her quest that the popularity of her book series is truly declining. Her world seems to be coming apart at the seams, and there is also a lot to like in how she uses her quest as fuel for penning her final novel at the same time. The book series is what she has used in order to delude herself into believing that she is still young, and with it on the decline, she finally has to grow up. 'Young Adult' is really a very apt title for the film in this regard. Patton Oswalt delivers has a solid supporting turn here too, but this is Theron's film the whole way as she renders her sour character with a nefarious plan utterly human.