Five Reasons To See 'Young Adult'

[NelsonG]

As Mavis Gary lounges in her Hello Kitty T-shirt, swigging a 2-liter of Diet Coke for breakfast while the Kardashians drone in the background, it's clear the title "[url="http://www.mtv.com/movies/movie/465685/moviemain.jhtml"]Young Adult[/url]" (out today in limited release) refers not just to Mavis' occupation as a teen-lit author, but to the protagonist herself, whom at the age of 30-something, has never quite grown up. And she doesn't apologize for it.

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The Diablo Cody-penned, Jason Reitman-directed comedy follows Mavis as she returns home to Mercury, Minnesota, to win back her high-school sweetheart Buddy Slade (played by Patrick Wilson), who's now married with a newborn baby. But, again, Mavis doesn't care too much about that. The film is a hilarious (and at times cringe-inducing) tale of perpetual adolescence that you won't want to miss. Here are five reasons to see "Young Adult."

[b]Charlize Theron Is Fearless[/b]
It takes a certain self-confidence to portray a character with so few redeeming qualities, and Theron has it in spades. In fact, director Jason Reitman told Theron she was the only actress he envisioned in the role. "[It's] so nice, but also a bit of a back-handed compliment," Theron recently joked to MTV News. Sorry, Charlize. We couldn't agree with Jason more.

[b]Patton Oswalt: Leading Man[/b]
Sure, Patrick Wilson fills the stereotypical heartthrob role here, but it's Oswalt who nearly steals the show with his geeky Matt Freehauf, a high school classmate of Mavis', who's now handicapped after being the victim of a hate crime. (The jocks thought he was gay...but he's not.) Mavis and Matt's unlikely friendship is one of the few soft spots in "Young Adult," and it's a relationship you oddly can't help but root for.

[b]Diablo Cody Lite[/b]
The Oscar-winning scribe of "Juno" has a penchant for quirky sight gags (hamburger phone, anyone?) and catchphrase-friendly dialogue ("Honest to blog!"), but Cody is pleasantly restrained in "Young Adult," not allowing quippy lines to upstage the story. (Though kudos for that "textual chemistry" pun, Diablo...)

[b]The Ending[/b]
Without spoiling the movie's conclusion, we'll just say things aren't wrapped up with a big red bow—something Theron said makes the story more true to life. "I sometimes watch movies, and I call them 'movie people,'" she said. "I don't know these people who have massive revelations and turn their lives around." Neither do we.

[b]Strangely, You Might Just Relate[/b]
As despicable as Mavis can be, it's hard not to commiserate with a small-town gal done (sort of) good, who returns home to find not much has changed. If you've gone back for a high school reunion, you know what we're talking about.

[i]Do you plan on seeing "Young Adult"? Tell us in the comments and on <a href="http://twitter.com/mtvmoviesblog" target="_blank">Twitter![/i]



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