I never seemed to understand the remarkable hype around Diablo Cody's trying too hard for its own good, overbearingly kitschy writing style, until I watched Young Adult. The film is so refreshingly depressing and mirrors everybody's own absolutely never-ending and unconditional love for themselves. Charlize Theron brilliantly plays a single, negative, cynical, self-absorbed sociopath who re-enters her old life to seek out the validation of her old high school boyfriend. Although criticized for being a 'downer' and 'not compelling', I found the self-serving and emotionally stunted lead character to be surprisingly relatable and the lack of resolution to her many problems as a fresh dose of reality that we rarely see in film. Not to mention the hilariously crafted secondary characters who are carefully written to be the flat and unchanging support to the extremely complex main character. I stand behind Young Adult as one of the better films of 2011 with some truly great performances by Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt. Worth a view!
Review of Young Adult
