On Wednesday (Oct. 19) the Landmark Edina Cinema was the site of the first U.S. audience screening of "Young Adult," the new film starring Charlize Theron, from the "Juno" team of director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody. The much-anticipated new collaboration shares some stylistic notes with their earlier effort -- a pop-saturated soundtrack, a woman-child stuck between adolescence and adulthood, a droll appreciation of daily life in suburbia. It's also a step in a new direction, both for the creative team and for movies, a mature and humane comedy centered on a misanthropic female antihero.
Think of it as "Juno's" wicked stepsister.
Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a divorced writer (or as she perfers it, "author") of "Sweet Valley High"-style teen novels. Though she's in her thirties, she's still obsessed with her former high school sweetheart, Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson), who is married and is a new dad. Mavis returns to her hometown to reclaim her man, oblivious to the fact that he is happy with his life. A comedy of real awkwardness ensues.
To find out how well all this works, you'll have to wait for my full review when the movie opens Dec. 9.
