Nervy YOUNG ADULT dazzles. It’s a cockeyed comic triumph with an exceptional cast.”
When it’s done right, as it is in YOUNG ADULT, there is something absolutely mesmerizing about watching a train wreck unfold on screen. Charlize Theron plays mean to perfection.”
Charlize Theron is splendid.”
Jason Reitman (JUNO, UP IN THE AIR) directs this tricky material with blade-sharp dexterity, and [Cody’s] gutsy script, filled with laughs that make you go ‘Ouch,’ is note-perfect. Charlize Theron is a comic force of nature.”
YOUNG ADULT shrouds its brilliant, brave and breathtakingly cynical heart in the superficial blandness of commercial comedy. The established codes of modern movie comedy are scrambled and subverted in ways that are puzzling, amusing, horrifying and ultimately astonishing.”
Director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody, who made the huggable hit JUNO, have reunited. Do not expect more of the same: this is a far more daring and prickly affair.”
YOUNG ADULT is a surprisingly potent and insightful dramedy, all the more effective for its understated nature and its off-the-cuff black comedy construction.”
Charlize Theron delivers a brave, darkly amusing performance.”
Anchored by a pair of performances that are among the year’s best, surprisingly sophisticated dialogue, and a subject matter that is unsettling, with touches of humor, this movie achieves moments and takes us on such a nakedly personal journey that it feels almost death defying for its characters.”
YOUNG ADULT doesn’t flinch from deep-seated scars and long-lasting regret, and it’s only funnier for exploiting and exploring the grand delusions of its utterly pathological, pretty-on-the-outside protagonist. A-.”
A brutally dark comedy but it is a very adult piece of work, playing in hues all the more uncomfortable for how true they really are on a primal level. Charlize Theron gives a stellar, bitchy, biting, layered, at times moving performance. This is quite possibly Reitman’s most refined outing to date.”
The movie’s most potent weapon is, without question, Charlize Theron’s consistently engrossing performance, with the actress’ fearless, go-for-broke turn.”
Impressive in the writing, the directing, and the performances from all involved. Charlize Theron is stunning in the role of Mavis and Diablo Cody’s voice finds its most refined presentation so far.”
Theron is one grand wretch in YOUNG ADULT.”
YOUNG ADULT is the anti-JUNO. Charlize Theron continues to show her versatility, hurling herself headlong into this unhinged character. There are shadings of Nicole Kidman in TO DIE FOR here; she’ll make you squirm, but she may make you feel a little sorry for her, too.”
Charlize Theron delivers another Oscar®–worthy performance.”
Charlize Theron deserves to win a second nomination for playing the sexy, unmoored, utterly reprehensible Mavis Gary in YOUNG ADULT, and Patton Oswalt could wind up with an Oscar® nomination of his own.”
Theron gives a startling and often hilarious performance.”
Theron is terrific. It’s a fearless performance.”
The one-of-a-kind comedy.”
★★★★★
YOUNG ADULT is a dark comedy that confirms Diablo Cody (JUNO) as a screenwriter of importance, eliminates the last shred of doubt that Jason Reitman is a major director and gives Charlize Theron her best showcase since MONSTER.”
Theron and Oswalt make a perfect imperfect pair in
YOUNG ADULT.”
