YOUNG ADULT (2011)

One of my favourite films of all time has to be the endearing, hilarious tale of a young girl who discovers she is pregnant and then must decide what to do next. I'm of course talking about Juno (2005) which was penned by the wonderful Diablo Cody. When I heard that she had written a new movie starring Charlize Theron, naturally I was elated. Sadly, it became one of those films that gets added to a big, long list that are often not conquered. Well, it's 2013 and I've just managed to watch it and I have to admit, it was an interesting film to say the least.

Theron plays Mavis, a ghost writer of young adult fiction, who escaped her small home town in her youth and ventured into Minneapolis to lead her adult life. She finds herself becoming slowly disillusioned with her current existence causing her to concoct a frankly ridiculous plan to win back her old High School sweetheart. The film is filled with bitter realisation and painfully uncomfortable situations. This isn't Larry David-style funny awkwardness but rather heart-breaking truths depicting just how screwed up our past experiences can leave us.

The word realisation is truly key to this film in that over the course of the hour and a half, the character slowly reveals her past. This causes the viewer to understand why she is self destructing in such a catastrophic manner. These plot twists truly are shocking and come at the most inopportune moments. Mavis does find another character who she can confide in which is where Patton Oswalt's equally pitiful Matt enters the narrative. While both characters did evoke a sense of sympathy in me, throughout there were references to how self absorbed the protagonist truly is which understandably caused me to struggle with some of her confessions. When somebody is perceived to be a narcissistic, stereotypical popular girl, it's hard to truly relate to them on an emotional level.

Despite this, I thought Theron's performance was very good. I remained interested during the entire film and did manage to develop some feelings of empathy towards her character despite the writing making it difficult. I don't know whether Cody was trying to offer a different side of herself through this movie and stray away from comedy but it truly was not what I was expecting. Personally, I think the best parts of this film were the witty dialogue rather than the scenes of Theron wallowing in self pity. I'd just like to reassure anybody reading this that the film does seem to end on a positive note, just in case you thought that after watching this, you too may become depressed. 

I think if you're seeking a feeling of schadenfreude (German for happiness at the misfortune of others) then you can watch this and smugly feel like all those 'popular' kids in your own school may not have it as easy as they would have you believe.