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Lori's Movie Corner
Mar. 25th, 2013 09:50 amThe only real issue I have with the movie Young Adult is that I'd really like to know how the main character went from "psycho bitch prom queen" to ghostwriter of teen novels. Because psycho bitch prom queens in my Midwestern home town grew up to be real estate agents, or sales managers, or dental hygienists.
Other than that, though, this movie rocked. The writing by Diablo Cody was both sharp and humane, and the performances were spot on -- especially Charlize Theron's, but give lots of credit too to Patton Oswalt in a fine supporting role.
I love his movie in part because it fearlessly inverts so many tropes. There's a scene here which is a direct answer to 40 Year Old Virgin, I swear. The whole premise is an answer to romantic comedies that center on relighting old flames. Basically, this is an anti-romcom. Yum.
The attention to detail here is part of what makes this movie so good. Theron drives back into her old hometown and passes...chain store after chain store after chain store, shining their neon logos into the Midwestern night. That is exactly what driving back home looks like for me. I was cackling. And I knew I was going to give this movie a long leash during the first phone call to Theron's old flame -- and you don't see his face, only his hands as he transfers his wife's breast milk from the pump to a plastic ziploc bag and on into the freezer. His wife? Is the drummer in a mom band. Called "Nipple Confusion." I died.
And also, I am so thankful for a story in which a woman gets to have a midlife crisis that isn't wrapped up in a pretty bow by the end. That the woman gets to be unlikable. And you feel compassion for her anyway -- and so do the characters in the film -- without excusing her inexcusable actions. Oh, fuck, it was such a grown up movie. I want more grown-up movies, please. "Dark comedy," I guess, but most dark comedies lean on the absurd-grotesque end of things. Part of what makes Young Adult so great is that it heads into the opposite direction, toward relentless naturalism.
I will totally own that I may like this film more than other people because it was like a guided rocket toward the vulnerable parts of my identity -- struggling writer, midlife crisis, Midwestern hometown, hello! I didn't go to my prom, though. I don't have any glory days to relive back home. But let's just say that the premise was, as they say, relatable. But fuck -- I saw a movie and the premise was relatable! Not spot-on, but recognizable. This is frosting. It shouldn't be; it should be the cake. But right now it makes for mighty tasty frosting.
Other than that, though, this movie rocked. The writing by Diablo Cody was both sharp and humane, and the performances were spot on -- especially Charlize Theron's, but give lots of credit too to Patton Oswalt in a fine supporting role.
I love his movie in part because it fearlessly inverts so many tropes. There's a scene here which is a direct answer to 40 Year Old Virgin, I swear. The whole premise is an answer to romantic comedies that center on relighting old flames. Basically, this is an anti-romcom. Yum.
The attention to detail here is part of what makes this movie so good. Theron drives back into her old hometown and passes...chain store after chain store after chain store, shining their neon logos into the Midwestern night. That is exactly what driving back home looks like for me. I was cackling. And I knew I was going to give this movie a long leash during the first phone call to Theron's old flame -- and you don't see his face, only his hands as he transfers his wife's breast milk from the pump to a plastic ziploc bag and on into the freezer. His wife? Is the drummer in a mom band. Called "Nipple Confusion." I died.
And also, I am so thankful for a story in which a woman gets to have a midlife crisis that isn't wrapped up in a pretty bow by the end. That the woman gets to be unlikable. And you feel compassion for her anyway -- and so do the characters in the film -- without excusing her inexcusable actions. Oh, fuck, it was such a grown up movie. I want more grown-up movies, please. "Dark comedy," I guess, but most dark comedies lean on the absurd-grotesque end of things. Part of what makes Young Adult so great is that it heads into the opposite direction, toward relentless naturalism.
I will totally own that I may like this film more than other people because it was like a guided rocket toward the vulnerable parts of my identity -- struggling writer, midlife crisis, Midwestern hometown, hello! I didn't go to my prom, though. I don't have any glory days to relive back home. But let's just say that the premise was, as they say, relatable. But fuck -- I saw a movie and the premise was relatable! Not spot-on, but recognizable. This is frosting. It shouldn't be; it should be the cake. But right now it makes for mighty tasty frosting.
