Film reviews
Men In Black 3
It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.
Bel Ami
The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.
The Dictator
A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.
The Woman In Black
Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.
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Young Adult (Film)
Rating: MA
Running Time: 93
Country: USA
Director: Jason Reitman
Cast: Patton Oswalt, Elizabeth Reaser, Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson
Distributor: Paramount
Release Date: January 19, 2012
Film Worth: $17.00
FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worthA darkly comic, brutally honest and superbly performed look at Gen X’s slacker attitude and refusal to grow up.
Darkly comic and at times deeply depressing, Young Adult is the latest work by Oscar winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (Juno), in another perfect pairing with director Jason Reitman (Up In The Air).
Mavis (Charlize Theron), a recently divorced, young adult writer returns to her hometown of Mercury in a quest to win over her childhood sweetheart. Depressed and drinking heavily after her latest fiction series was cancelled, she deludes herself into thinking that love will solve all. Only problem is that her childhood sweetheart is happily married, with a brand new baby to boot.
Not letting trivial matters such as marriage and babies get in the way, this former prom queen throws everything she has at the lovely Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson). The only person trying to stop her from self-destructing is a former high school student, Matt (brilliantly underplayed by Patton Oswalt) who was crippled when a group of jocks nearly beat him to death for being gay (which he wasn't).
Together the two of them shine. Oswalt (a regular cameo-player in film and TV) is so real that he brings Theron's performance down a notch or two and the scenes between them are lovely to watch. The direction is pitched at just the right note and Reitman does a fantastic job with the actors and the performances are consistently excellent.
Gen Xs will definitely see themselves in this film - what with their obsession with youth and all that it has to offer. There is also something so sad about seeing a prom queen past her prime; all that hope and promise stripped away until all that is left is a tragic mess with badly bleached hair. Now, might be a good time to grow up.
