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 happily married and has a newborn daughte... Read allSoon 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 happily married and has a newborn daughter.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 happily married and has a newborn daughter.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 33 nominations
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe word processor file in which Mavis composes her novel throughout the film is titled "pieceofshit.doc".
- GoofsWhen Mavis is sitting in KFC, the cup says KGC from one angle and then KFC from another. While thought to be a mistake, the cup reads "KGC" because for a short while, Kentucky Fried Chicken tried to rebrand itself as Kentucky Grilled Chicken, offering a healthier option to their original fried chicken. The cup bears the new, short-lived KGC logo.
- Quotes
Mavis Gary: Hey, do you know this girl named Beth? She married Buddy Slade from school.
Sandra Freehauf: Yeah, I know that Beth.
Mavis Gary: What do you think of her?
Sandra Freehauf: I don't really like her. I mean, I think you're way prettier than she is. What happened to your dress? I'm sorry, did I say something wrong? Shit. What's wrong? What did I say?
Mavis Gary: I have a lot of problems.
Sandra Freehauf: Can't you get a new dress?
Mavis Gary: It's really difficult for me to be happy. And then for other people it just seems so simple. I know. They just grow up and they're so fulfilled.
Sandra Freehauf: I don't feel fulfilled. And frankly, if you don't feel fulfilled with all the stuff that you have.
Mavis Gary: I need to change, Sandra.
Sandra Freehauf: No you don't.
Mavis Gary: What?
Sandra Freehauf: You're the only person in Mercury who could write a book or wear a dress like that.
Mavis Gary: I'm sure there's plenty of other people who could.
Sandra Freehauf: Everyone here is fat and dumb.
Mavis Gary: Don't say that. I mean, you think so?
Sandra Freehauf: Everyone wishes that they could be like you. You know, living in the big city all famous and beautiful and all that.
Mavis Gary: I'm not really famous.
Sandra Freehauf: Well, you know, special or whatever. I mean, some days when I have a slow shift at work I'll sit and think about you living in your cool apartment, going out and stuff. It seems really nice.
Mavis Gary: Yeah, but most people here seem so happy with so little. It's like they don't even seem to care what happens to them.
Sandra Freehauf: That's because it doesn't matter what happens to them. They're nothing. Might as well die. Fuck Mercury.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.53 (2011)
- SoundtracksEpic
Written by Billy Gould, Roddy Bottum, Mike Bordin, Jim Martin and Mike Patton
Performed by Mateo Messina
Published by Big Thrilling Music/Vomit God Music
Although ironic when juxtaposed with its main character, a 37-year-old who hasn't gotten over her high school sweetheart, Reitman and Cody display obvious evidence of maturation. The subject and humor are decidedly darker, and the emotional energy more raw and challenging.
Charlize Theron stars as Mavis Gary, perhaps one of film's most hopelessly pathetic protagonists. Before giving the opening credit sequence its cue, Reitman puts Theron to work and paints a clear picture of spiraling drunken loneliness, reality TV and apathy toward responsibility. Appropriately, she's a young-adult fiction writer for a dwindling book series who's also a former prom queen. Theron is perfect for the role with her combination of in- concealable beauty and dramatic prowess. Mavis never becomes a caricature under her watch.
Unable to get past the fact that her high school boyfriend Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson) just had a baby, Mavis flees her depressing cyclical lifestyle in Minneapolis for her home town of Mercury, Minn. with the intention of winning him back.
Mavis' delusional and deceitful quest to be a home-wrecker proves maddening through much of the film at the slow-burn pace Reitman has dictated, and it becomes obvious that at some point the bubble on her misguided journey will burst into an ugly mess. Yet despite this foreseeable direction, the climax proves stirring and not without a set of surprises.
Adding to the complexity of Mavis reclaiming her past is Matt (Patton Oswalt), a former classmate she barely noticed because they were miles apart on the social spectrum. The two bond over their appreciation for (or dependency on) bourbon, and their relationship allows Theron's character a chance to blow off steam, albeit irresponsibly.
Mavis eventually remembers Matt as the "hate crime kid" because he was brutally beaten to the point of being disabled in high school at the hands of some jocks who thought he was gay. He serves as a strong comparison point for Mavis' high school experience throughout the film. Oswalt's wit also matches well with Cody's style and Matt actually turns into one of the better depictions of a disabled character probably ever. Other than the incident that caused it, we're not asked to sympathize excessively with his condition, nor do Mavis' snarky remarks about it come across as rude.
Cody's dialogue is much more restrained this time around; "Juno" is eons funnier as a result, but the sacrifice of laughs allows us to focus on the film as a character study of a woman who hasn't quite learned how to be an adult. The script's only deficiency comes from a crater- sized hole in Mavis' history. "Young Adult" deserves praise for being a film about living in the past that contains not a single flashback, but knowing more about Mavis' divorce and how she came to break up with Buddy the first time could have significantly informed the story, especially as to why Mavis willfully lives her life as the trainwreck it clearly is.
The film's climax helps a bit in this regard, and Mavis' epiphany avoids being cliché despite the obvious "appreciate what you have" motif. Part of the message oddly suggests that small- town folks lead purposeless lives for the sake of achieving some kind of blissful stasis, but at the same time the idea that all of us are broken people that need to affirm and trudge forward — not backward — with our various blemishes, will surely resonate.
~Steven C
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- Movie_Muse_Reviews
- Dec 16, 2011
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Tuổi Mới Lớn
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $16,311,571
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $310,263
- Dec 11, 2011
- Gross worldwide
- $22,939,027
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1