Film: Young Adult

GENRE: Comedy/Drama
RATING: R for language and some sexual content
RUNTIME: 1 hours and 34 minutes
STARRING: Charlize Theron (Monster, Hancock, Italian Job)
Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille) Patrick Wilson (Watchmen, Hard Candy)
DIRECTOR: Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You For Smoking)
WRITER: Diablo Cody (Juno, United States of Tara)
PLOT: A young adult fiction writer returns home to try steal back her highschool sweetheart who is now happily married and has a baby.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 For the last few years, every other Christmas there has been a Jason Reitman film that comes out and ends up near the top of my ‘best of’ the year list. This year, that will not happen. While Young Adult got a few chuckles out of me, it did not have the same quirky fun and high drama his previous films have had. It really seemed like he phoned it in this time. I was pretty disappointed. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, but not in a cool way.
2 Oswalt is the glimmer of sunlight in this dark and depressing film. His crippled character brings the much needed sanity but he is unable to stop the train wreck. He plays so well with Theron, I am very interested in his next endeavor.
3 I will credit Reitman or at least his prop master with wonderful attention to detail. An old 90’s cassette brought back some fun memories. I spent most of the time watching the backgrounds. Says something about the story doesn’t it?
4 I loved Juno and found myself rooting for her the whole time. I disliked Mavis and didn’t care what happened to her. Diablo Cody did some sloppy writing on this one. At one point, Buddy says he’s stopped drinking but he’s offering beers at home and going to bars all the time. There’s also a reveal at the end that is not earned in the slightest. Lazy, lazy, lazy.
5 Too many close-ups of finger-nails and toe-nails.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for TBS
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Sherlock Holmes 2, Mission Impossible 4