There have been many movies that have tried to be the anti-romantic comedy, and why not? The “rom-com” is perhaps the most lambasted genre of film for a variety of reasons, but chief among them is that most of them are downright awful. Especially in the last dozen years or so with the plot of many rom-coms based on a woman or man doing whatever it takes to get the interest of his or her dream person, doing actions that in real life would be seen as, well, borderline psychopathic. I mean, seriously, most people would be arrested for stalking if they followed the model of courting as portrayed in a Sarah Jessica Parker or Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy.
But most movies that try to angle themselves as the “anti-romantic comedy” – like Hitch or, well, almost every Adam Sandler movie since The Wedding Singer – end up missing the mark since they end up being romantic comedies, anyway (having a male as the lead makes little difference if the happy endings are always the same anyway. Pay attention, Hollywood!). That’s why director Jason Reitman’s latest film, Young Adult, is such a refreshing movie – we may have finally gotten the anti-romantic comedy that everyone who rolls their eyes at the genre has been waiting for. Better yet, Reitman – who proves with every film that he’s one of the best directors working today – has finally gotten another brilliant performance out of Charlize Theron.
Young Adult taps into the oft-used plot of “can’t I just go back to before I screwed it all up?” that comedies often employ for some wacky time travel shenanigans or desperate grabs for former ex-lovers. What we never get to in such movies is just how pathetic it is for these characters to be so desperately living their lives longing for the past. While in real life there’s nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia as long as it remains just “what if?” reflecting, Young Adult is no such thing.
Theron is Marvis Gary, a writer of – as the title implies – a fictional series of young adult high school novels that have recently fallen out of popularity. As the series’ fortunes have fallen so has Mavis’, and while finding herself unable to write the last book in the series she decides to resolve some unfinished business with her high school sweetheart, Buddy (Patrick Wilson). She packs her bags for the small Minnesota town she grew up in, determined to win him back.
Sounds innocent enough, doesn’t it? If this was a Katherine Heigl romantic comedy the plot would begin and end there. But writer Diablo Cody – who reteams with her Juno director Reitman – doesn’t end there: the reason Mavis becomes inspired to win back Buddy is that she receives a message that he and the woman he is happily married to have had a baby and Mavis is convinced she needs to “rescue” her true love from a life of small town mediocrity. It leads to some twisted, alcohol-fueled desperate moves on the part of Mavis, as Cody and 
Reitman have found the inherent humor in the Fatal Attraction scenario – yes, despite the twisted plot the film is very funny (more so than most true “rom-coms” I have seen, anyway). The sheer absurdity of an actress as beautiful as Theron being so woefully pathetic actually helps the film because Theron makes it plausible that a woman who spends her life in a high school mindset would follow through with such a desperate plan. Because Theron hasn’t done anything this worthwhile since Monster I’ve forgotten just how damn good she is by being able to infuse such a shallow character with disturbing psychological depth. Her performance becomes that much powerful in the film’s climax, when we finally get an understanding of why Mavis is the way she became. Suddenly we stop laughing. It’s easy to laugh at someone who’s pathetic, but not someone who is as emotionally troubled as Mavis. The writers behind Bad Teacher wished they could’ve wrote an unlikable character this well.
Ultimately that is the film’s greatest strength – though we initially laugh at Mavis and how she picks up on anything Buddy does as a sign of affection like a naïve schoolgirl, it becomes evident that Theron’s character is deeply troubled. The alcoholic writer character is a dead horse that has been beaten for far longer than anyone reading this has been alive, but Reitman, Cody, and Theron has managed to breathe some life into the stereotype. Another one of the film’s strengths is comedian Patton Oswalt, who, as Matt Freehauf, essentially plays the angel that should be on Mavis’ shoulder, which must have left long ago in an alcoholic haze. In line with Oswalt’s comedy persona, Matt is a total geek, but adding to that is that the doughy Matt still suffers from injuries from a misdirected hate crime beating done to him while in high school (though the story was national news, the shallow Mavis doesn’t recall it until she notice’s Matt’s crutch). Oswalt hasn’t had a role this good in… ever, really, and his character, though far more likable than Mavis, has some of the same issues with getting over the past. Collette Wolfe, as Sarah Freehauf, Matt’s sister, serves as a perfect counterpoint to Matt as a Mavis-worshipping suck-up who is essentially the shoulder devil to Matt’s angel. Her climatic heart-to-heart with Mavis snaps the film back into reality and makes you understand why cruel, broken women like Mavis can actually exist in this world: people actually look up to the way such women carry themselves.
While I don’t see Young Adult receiving the same acclaim and lasting appreciation as Juno – after all, Juno had a likable lead character – it is a fascinating character piece. You will feel a variety of emotions about Mavis, which finally gives us a romantic “comedy” lead with actual emotional depth. Though the film’s ending does leave a bit too much to question about Mavis’ future (which is not necessarily bad, since typical rom-coms tend to wrap up everything in a nice little proposal package), at least you’ll leave the theater wondering what she will do next. And a film that keeps you wondering is definitely a film worth seeing.
One last note – Theron is absolutely gorgeous in the movie, even when she’s being a stuck-up bitch. Despite being so beautiful, you’ll still dislike her character, which shows that not only is Theron an incredible actress, but the old theory that a beautiful woman could get away with anything is finally proven wrong.
Rating: Anyone who has ever disparaged a rom-com ought to see this. (9/10)
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