Young Adult

"Everyone gets old. Not everyone grows up."

2011 1h 34m EN

😐

5.8

MID

★5.8TMDB · 1,398

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A divorced writer from the Midwest returns to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who's now married with a family.

“Everyone gets old. Not everyone grows up.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Charlize Theron
Mavis Gary
Patton Oswalt
Matt Freehauf
Patrick Wilson
Buddy Slade
Elizabeth Reaser
Beth Slade
Collette Wolfe
Sandra Freehauf
Jill Eikenberry
Hedda Gary
Richard Bekins
David Gary
Mary Beth Hurt
Jan

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jason Reitman
Writers: Diablo Cody
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 15 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jason Reitman, shot by Eric Steelberg. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mateo Messina. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Dana E. Glauberman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt and Patrick Wilson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Everyone gets old. Not everyone grows up.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1625346 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jason Reitman directs. Eric Steelberg behind the camera. Mateo Messina scores. Dana E. Glauberman cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 15 years ago.
2Directed by Jason Reitman, shot by Eric Steelberg. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Mateo Messina. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Dana E. Glauberman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt and Patrick Wilson carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Everyone gets old. Not everyone grows up.".
7IMDB entry: tt1625346 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Eric Steelberg
Original score: Mateo Messina
Editing: Dana E. Glauberman
Production design: Kevin Thompson
Costume design: David C. Robinson
Makeup / hair: Mandy Lyons
VFX supervisor: John Bair
Sound: Eric Hirsch
Stunt coordinator: Peter Bucossi
Runtime: 94 min · 1h 34m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $12,000,000
Box office: $22,939,027
Return: 191% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Young Adult (2011)

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Jason Reitman

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Community reviews

What people are saying

DoryDarko2017-02-19
★ 8/10
Young Adult tells the story of 37-year-old Mavis Gary – a pathologically unhappy, immature, egotistical girl in a grown woman's body. Upon hearing of her ex-boyfriend's new born baby, she decides that they are still meant for each other, and the fact that he is now happily married to The Perfect Woman is but a minor detail on their road to eternal bliss. More simply put… Mavis is bat s* crazy. Going into this movie, I thought it was going to be a hilarious comedy, full of LOL moments. Actually it is nothing of the sort. Thinking about it, seeing the way this "adult" woman lives out her life (sleeping till noon, living in a pigsty, forgetting to take care of her dog and playing children's video games), is really incredibly sad. No, it's pathetic. She is the author of 'young adult' books, which in any other case is a perfectly fine job, except in hers it basically means she vicariously lives the life of her main character – a high school girl. This is the emotional level Mavis is stuck in. Hearing about her ex-boyfriend's baby stirs an awkward obsession in Mavis. She packs her bags and returns to her small hometown in Minnesota – completely convinced that she and her ex Buddy are destined to be together. Back home, it's obvious the people she left behind know her a little better than she knows herself. Basically, everybody knows her… and everybody hates her. And who can blame them… Mavis is quite simply the most childish, entitled, RIDICULOUSLY selfish woman there ever was. Thankfully there's at least one old acquaintance from her past who's willing to look beyond all that. His name is Matt, he walks with a crutch because he once was the victim of a horrible hate crime, and he is the only one who listens to her. What I love about this story is the fact that, although it starts out as a comedy, it gradually flows and meanders into a beautifully crafted, delicate character drama. Mavis, at first sight, is a hysterical character, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that this woman has some deep seeded issues, no matter how hard she tries to cover up for it. Mavis is played wonderfully by Charlize Theron, who delivers one of her most hilarious, yet at the same time, understated performances to date. She could have easily gone overboard with this character, but somehow manages to humanize this completely unlikable woman. In fact, I'm willing to state that about 80% of Young Adult 'works' because of her. She displays some of her best work in two very intense scenes, where Mavis' sky high ego comes crashing down, leaving her remarkably exposed and vulnerable. That right there was some truly wonderful acting on her part. Matt is played very amiably by Patton Oswalt, who seems to be the only character in town with any emotional intelligence. Although this character may be a bit of a cliché (the wise, sympathetic loser with a physical disability and a traumatizing past), that's OK because it works. Oswalt's acting clearly takes a shot at versatility and he passed with flying colours, as far as I'm concerned. I love the script. Penned by Diablo Cody (writer of Juno), it's full of sharp, sassy character traits and dialogue, while remaining very subtle and human. As a story, it doesn't honestly have that much to offer but it's a joy to watch for the high quality of 'human relatableness', I guess I could call it. Actually, I can't really think of any major flaws. It has an awesome soundtrack, all the actors are very well cast and the direction was placed perfectly in the very capable hands of Jason Reitman. This is a small film, about basic, non-glamorous human behavior and a big girl who might find happiness yet, if only she wants it badly enough. Highly recommended. (January 2015)
CinemaSerf2023-02-24
★ 5/10
The premiss is that Charlize Theron ("Mavis Gary") is an erstwhile successful novelist, now divorced, borderline alcoholic and bored. She heads back to her home town in Minnesota to catch up with her parents - and, more importantly, to hook up with her now married ex-boyfriend, who now has a baby... When she arrives, she initially meets up with the guy whom everyone thought was gay at school, and was (very) badly beaten up, who warns her off her intended - "Buddy Slade" (good looking, but wooden as a skateboard Patrick Wilson). To be honest, I found this quite a hard watch - Theron is so convincingly odious as to make me want to throttle her. Add to that the nauseatingly forgiving nature of the townsfolk whose lives she would willingly have wrecked and it made me even more annoyed! Not sure who this is actually for, this film, but it certainly wasn't for me... A thing of shallowness.