Young Adult

She's the girl you hated in high school - and she's back. The local people get the word that she's back, and so, when they talk about her, they call her the Ex-Prom Queen with the additional qualifier of 'Bitch'. Yeah, she's returned to her hometown and she wants her old flame back. Only he's a HMWAK - otherwise known as Happily Married with a Kid. Sounds like trouble has arrived in Mercury, Minnesota.
 
The film is called Young Adult. It stars the Oscar winning Charlize Theron, and was directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. These two were paired up as Director and Writer in the 2007 film - Juno.
 
Charlize has the role of Mavis Gary, a ghostwriter of romance fiction for teen girls or should I say YA's, which if you connect this to the title of the film, you get Young Adults. While she's kind of successful in that field, she hasn't quite reached an income level that could mean she could shop on Rodeo Drive, or have an apartment on Central Park West in New York. Instead, Mavis lives in a modest Minneapolis apartment with 'Modest' being an overstatement. However to Mavis, this was a far better situation than if she was stuck back in the old hometown
 
The thing about Mavis is that she can't see beyond her own image. Beauty worked for her in high school. She was the prom queen, she dated the school's football hero, and in her mind - the sea was required to part if she showed up on its shore.
 
So Mavis was the kind of woman who steamrolled through life - she either overwhelmed you because she was just sooo important, or she never saw you, like you weren't important, or attractive enough to even be noticed, considered, or thought about. What a gal.
 
So Charlize takes this role of this kind of a self-centered woman. She thought she was a woman born to run, as in run through life always having everything her way. Only for the rest of us - she was a woman that was born to hated.
 
So there's your set up. Usually in this kind of a situation - the bitch goddess gets taken down a peg, gets humiliated, or is knocked off her pedestal by the local folks, who put aside their sense of being threatened, and rev up their inner nobility - and a lesson is learned, the b/g gets the message, and everyone lives happily ever after.
 
That's usually the case - but it doesn't work out that way this time. Mavis is never going to get the message. She'll remain an unrepetentily savage. Not so much that she becomes a cartoon queen of cruelty. No Charlize, Reitman, and Cody have imbued her with a myopic sense of self. She can't see beyond her own aura - the one she imagines, and the one that is like an invisible force field. This field keeps people away, and keeps 'goodness', if any exists within Mavis, locked up inside her.
 
The object of Mavis's lust is Buddy Slade played by Patrick Wilson. He's a nice guy, and he loves his wife. But he is somewhat vulnerable when Mavis begins her assault on the beachhead of his marriage. But he quickly marshals his common sense, so he rebuffs, refuses, and reacts in the negative. Watch for his expressions as he gradually gets the message that the message he's sending to Mavis is the message that she's not getting at all.
 
Patton Oswalt is on hand as the local good guy. He was damaged a long time ago - in fact he was beaten up by town toughs back when he was in high school because they thought he was gay. He wasn't - but he's been badly disabled from that attack. He had the locker next to Mavis back in high school. Does she remember him - not at first - but then she recalls that incident and remembers him as The Hate-Crime Guy.
 
So Mavis is on one end of the spectrum - she's the Prom Queen both then and to this day - she's still the prom queen. She got all the attention she could handle. Patton's Matt is on the other end of the spectrum - 180 degrees opposite. He was the geek, the nerd, and he was never noticed.
 
Buddy is the middle.
 
The film has entertainment value despite the fact that the lead is despicable. Kudos to Charlize for taking this role. The film's tagline says - Everyone gets old. Not everyone grows up. So much so, that you are actively rooting against Mavis. Tough work for an actress. But the way Charlize handles this role - she's definitely worth seeing again.

Young Adult is the story of Mavis Gary, a 37 year-old woman who basically still acts like she’s a teenager.  She just happens to write a series of “young adult” books, probably because that’s the age range she still identifies with most.  Charlize Theron plays Mavis, who has just gone through a divorce.  So she decides to try and re-kindle a romance she had with her high school boyfriend.  The only problem is that he’s now married with a child.  That’s not an issue for her though.
Mavis grew up in the little town of Mercury, Minnesota but always felt like she was too good for it and moved to the bigger city of Minneapolis.  Now she’s returning to Mercury to find Buddy Slade, her ex (Patrick Wilson).  Everyone there dresses in plain clothing – a lot of flannel – while Mavis still struts around mini-skirts and high heels.  Oh, she’s pretty much an alcoholic too.  Her first night back she goes to a local bar and bumps into an old classmate named Matt who recognizes her.  She doesn’t recognize him though, even though his locker was next to her through all 4 years of high school.  That’s because he wasn’t part of the popular crowd.  In fact, he suffered a brutal beating which caused him to walk with a cane.  That’s the only thing she does wind up remembering about him.
Matt and Mavis form an unlikely bond, though Matt continually warns her not to mess with a married man’s happiness.  She doesn’t care though.  She only cares about making herself happy.  The best scenes in the movie involve these two since you can tell that Matt still wishes to be with someone like Mavis, and this is the closest he’s ever been to that.  As uninterested as her ex-boyfriend Buddy seems in her, she still pursues him nonetheless.  Matt is just her new friend to confide in, and basically mope around with as she’s clearly depressed with her life.  One would think Matt should be the depressed one considering he still walks with a cane and hasn’t had much luck with the ladies.  But he’s clearly more content with his life than Mavis is.
Matt is played by comedian Patton Oswalt who does a great job in what’s more of a serious role.  He’s sort of the heart of the movie.  Mavis remains unchanged.  Most movies that center on her type of character would have her do some kind of self-evaluation and become a better person.  Mavis starts to realize she’s a bit crazy, but she doesn’t try to change.   That’s one unique thing about the movie.  It’s not the most redeeming film but it’s an interesting one.  It basically just shows you that some people never grow up.

http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-philadelphia/danny-porcaro