Diablo Cody…. Can I have my money back?
Seriously do not see it. It is not funny. The only funny parts they used for the trailer and by the time you see it they’re not even funny any more. I was really disappointed with this movie. I didn’t have high hopes for it, even though I wanted to see it the hot second it came out, but it was not even remotely entertaining.
Let me spoil it for you: Mavis (Charlize Theron) finds out ex boyfriend had baby, decides to go back to little town to save him from his boring life/wife/baby, obsesses over him, drinks obsessively, meets him several times, even kisses him, but *shocker* he thinks she’s pathetic and doesn’t want to be with her. She is drunk and causes a scene. End of story.
There is absolutely no character development in this story to the point where it is almost shocking. I think Cody throws in the handicapped guy just to create some kind of metaphor that she doesn’t even effectively use. An hour into the film I was still waiting for it to start getting interesting. The narrative of Mavis being a writer of YA fiction throughout the story isn’t even well played, and the actual voice over of the story is just annoying and I didn’t even retain any of it. I honestly have never seen a movie that was so haphazardly thrown together. It seemed like you could have filmed the entire thing in one weekend in any bumblefuck town with a strip mall on a very low budget. The only redeeming thing about the movie was the dog, who takes the cake as best actor.
Cody got really lucky with Juno. Everything else has fallen flat. I used to watch United States of Tara, which at times was amusing and funny, but even then I felt she had trouble developing some story lines. She always hinted at them but seemed to back off or try to hold them off til later. I think this is true of the trichotillomania and possible binge disorder hinted at in Young Adult. ALSO HELLO they never said why they broke up in the first place.
If you’re pissed I ruined the whole movie for you, I don’t even care, you should thank me, because it was just that awful. Also the ex boyfriend’s wife is played by that cavewoman looking girl who played Jane Doe on Grey’s Anatomy and you will not be able to focus on anything other than that and how incredibly large her forehead is.
Theron gives a terrific performance. She elevates the movie by demonstrating her versatility. She almost makes you feel sympathetic towards this blonde, beautiful and sharp-witted anti-heroine. Oswalt deserves consideration for supporting actor as well. Great review.