Young Adult

Better than I though it would be.

My Rating: 3 and a half reels out of 5

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 married with kids. 

Mavis Gary is not the kind of person I encountered in high school. She seems more like the kind of stuck-up high school brat I would see in movies of high school. Her plan to reclaim her ex-boyfriend is a little farfetched. It's not often you see a film about a person who disregards a marriage and family for their own selfish reasons and it's hard to sell such a film to an audience, but the filmmakers make it work. 

Diablo Cody (best known for writing Juno) does a good job in crafting the characters and the world they live in. Just imagine a small town filled with the people who were never going to leave. There is a history and depth to each character that's a little different but still plays on stereotypes of cliques in high school. Director Jason Reitman brings out the best in the actors, but when you already have a great actress like Charlize Theron, it's one less thing to worry about. 

Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary. It's the subtleties that really make the character. From her expression to the way she reacts to her environment like simply taking a bottle of glue and sniffing it. Charlize takes an unlikable character and makes the audience sympathize with her. In the trailers, she definitely appears as a hated person and the only thing that would bring a person to watch such a movie is curiosity. 

How is she going to achieve this goal of hers? Is she insane? Is somebody going to tell her to just grow the f*ck up? Curiosity is what brought me in and I left with something a little more than I expected.

You'll probably like this movie if:
1. You like Charlize Theron movies.
2. You like Jason Reitman movies.

You'll probably not like this movie if:
1. High school was a time you like to forget.
2. You can't watch a movie about a unlikeable character.