Young Adult

Charlize Theron stars in this disheartening, dysfunctional character study of a brazen, narcissistic former prom queen whose life has gone steadily downhill since high school. Taking stock of her dissolute, disheveled existence in Minneapolis, where she ghost-writes pulpy fiction for young adults, 37-year-old, recently divorced Mavis Gary (Theron) recalls that she was happiest when she was a teenager, going steady with her football star sweetheart, Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson). A self-absorbed, alcoholic Mavis drives back to her small, nondescript hometown of Mercury, MN, to try to revive that romance, despite the fact that Buddy is now married to Beth (Elizabeth Reaser) and the couple have a newborn daughter. After checking into a motel and finding a neighborhood bar, Mavis runs into nerdy, crippled Matt Freehauf (Patton Oswalt)—brutally beaten by classmates many years ago—in whom she confides her deranged home-wrecking plans. Although he cautions her that Buddy is happily married, Mavis disregards Matt's warnings and manipulates clueless, straitlaced Buddy into meeting her the next day for a drink, setting off a cycle of emotional chaos and hurtful confusion. Writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman—collaborators on Juno—strike a wry vein of glossy, dark humor beneath the pathetic pathos, but Mavis's bitter, reprehensible bitch never approaches any sort of redemption. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Jason Reitman, cinematographer Eric Steelberg, and associate producer Jason A. Blumenfeld, “The Awful Truth: Deconstructing a Scene” featurette (6 min.), deleted scenes (2 min.), trailers, and a bonus UltraViolet digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)