Movies

Young Adult has the temperament of a young adult: bratty, confused and emotionally stunted. It sits somewhere between a dark comedy and a misery-guts drama, edgy without ever going over the edge, despite a game performance from Charlize Theron and some irreverent moments.

Mavis Gary (Theron) is the girl everyone hated at high school. At 37, her days of prom queen glory are well and truly over as she lives day to day drinking herself silly, watching the Kardashians and writing brainless teenage novels that aren't successful anymore.

So what's a girl to do but return to her Hicksville hometown to recapture her youth with high school sweetheart Buddy (Patrick Wilson)? Trouble is, he's happily married with a newborn bub. That little detail doesn't deter Mavis, who sets out to get her man back with the help of a forgotten high school geek, 'Hate-Crime Matt' (Patton Oswalt).

From the pen of Juno's Academy-Award-winning writer Diablo Cody, and under the direction of Up in the Air's Jason Reitman, Young Adult pales in comparison to either of those films, but there are moments of sharp humour and some home truths about identity and maturity.

The tone varies wildly from the pitch-perfect, like Mavis's lonely scenes at a three-in-one fast food chain or hotel bedroom, to the tone-deaf, like the overwrought confrontation scene at Buddy's house.

It's a mistake to reveal Mavis's vulnerability in a hysterical rant rather than a candid moment, and this is key to why many viewers might be left cold by this unlikeable character.

Either you'll love her screw-the-world mentality, or you'll be frustrated by her lack of compassion for other people. Theron goes a long way to making Mavis an entertaining, even laugh-out-loud character: she's a trainwreck in denial about her own serious issues. Whenever she sculls a drink, which is often, we're unsure about whether to barrack for her or pity her.

Perhaps that's the point of the film: we all have shortcomings and bad habits we should kick, but it's easier said than done.