Young Adult 2011

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: In a thorny role, Theron is splendid; she instinctively reveals everything Mavis doesn't know about herself and offers an intimate peek into a wayward soul. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: ...the film and its cast portray the [characters] with steadfastness, precision, empathy and a kind of poignant wisdom. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Shorter than a bad blind date and as sour as a vinegar Popsicle, "Young Adult" shrouds its brilliant, brave and breathtakingly cynical heart in the superficial blandness of commercial comedy. Read more

Stephen Garrett, Time Out: While one might be tempted to call it mature, that word suggests a capacity for self-evaluation and unsentimental levity. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: What makes the movie marvelous is the same combination that the filmmaker and writer brought to "Juno" -- unerringly subtle yet precise direction plus a literate script with dramatic energy and a delicate tone. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's enjoyable as a character study, of a character most of us wouldn't want to meet. Read more

Alison Willmore, AV Club: It's an empathetic but bravely brittle portrait of an aging queen bee that showcases a nuanced performance from Theron as a woman too used to being admired to admit how lonely and desperate she's become. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Reitman makes bold choices with the story. Not all are fun to watch in the moment, but they add up to a satisfying portrait of a woman off the rails, someone we can laugh at even when we're horrified. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: In the vein of Alexander Payne, Reitman finds just the right affectionately mocking tone in taking some jabs at small-town Midwestern life. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The movie doesn't weigh that much, but it has a kind of point-blank piquancy that has gradually seeped out of American comedies, which now are mostly going for broad, topical gags that rarely venture into the relatable shadows of human behavior. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The movie suffers from the sort of self-pitying fog that can envelop a writer when he dives into his own malaise. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Theron nails the specifics of her character, all the distress signals, from the nervous hair-pulling to the relentless default sarcasm. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Theron does a fairly convincing job. It's the movie surrounding her that isn't quite so convincing. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: The comedy of discomfort, so long defined by Curb Your Enthusiasm and its ilk, gets a new hue with Young Adult. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: There's little about Mavis that makes for feel-good revelry. That's an understatement, perhaps. Yet, Theron's work feels true to Mavis' malaise -- and often, just as sad. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Young Adult may be the year's most engaging feel-bad movie. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The really pretty Theron captures that state of really ugly inner childishness (articulated so sharply by Cody) with such precision, it makes you want to hear stories of her own high school experience. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: On a scene-by-scene basis, Young Adult entirely engages with its smart exchanges between characters who are well equipped with rough edges and raw nerves. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: There is a brashness of style that both Cody and Reitman embody - almost demanding that we not only laugh at, but like the unlikable side of the human condition. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Every time you're ready to write off Hollywood comedies, along comes a picture like Young Adult to keep hope alive. Read more

David Thomson, The New Republic: There has always been something so inward about [Theron;] she can seem detached or deprived. But here it's as if the script and the direction felt bound to heed that loneliness, and let the actress go with her bravery and the depressive sag of her mouth. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: "Young Adult" finally stumbles not because it tries to make us like Mavis, but because everyone else in it seems to, no matter what she does. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: In a less acid romp, Mavis would learn life lessons in the final reel, but director Jason Reitman makes it a point not to let her off the hook. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: "Young Adult" may at times be stuck between emotional gears, but that's by design. Like its heroine, the movie refuses to pick up after itself. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Nobody ever said that adolescence was pretty, even if an increasing number of people are experiencing its final pangs on the cusp of middle age. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Ms. Theron, a true beauty and one of the screen's most exquisite actors, keeps the film airborne even when it seems dangerously earthbound. She's a one-woman emergency rescue squad. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Theron is thrillingly nasty as Mavis. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The attitude toward the protagonist is thinly-veiled contempt ... until, in the last 20 minutes or so, they attempt to turn her into an object of sympathy. It doesn't work and, on balance, neither does Young Adult. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Charlize Theron delivers one of the most impressive performances of the year. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: As I absorbed it, I realized what a fearless character study it is. That sometimes it's funny doesn't hurt. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Patton Oswalt's dark duet with Charlize Theron is funny, touching and vital. But fair warning: The laughs in Young Adult leave bruises. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: There are plenty of sharp apercus and poignant character moments in "Young Adult," to be sure, but it's hard to tell where the movie's awkward comic knife edge slides away into clunkiness. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: A dark comedy that confirms Diablo Cody 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." Read more

Dan Kois, Slate: Young Adult doesn't fully work, but it's still one of the year's most memorable movies, a ruthless portrait of a heroine with a serious love/loathe relationship with herself. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's 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. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Clear-eyed, fearless and ferociously funny, "Young Adult" is mature filmmaking. Read more

Robert Levin, The Atlantic: It trades in discomfort and unease, not catharsis. That's an achievement worthy of admiration, if you can endure it. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: A low-key, indie-style comedy that plays precariously close to an unfunny sociopathic case study. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: It's an imperfect film, to be sure, but the movie's refusal to sacrifice its leading lady on the altar of Here's How to Behave feels downright revolutionary. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: There is a raw honesty here rare in movies, and it's very funny too - excruciating at times. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: As good as Theron and Oswalt are, and they're very good, Young Adult doesn't give them enough room to breathe. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Screenwriter Diablo Cody has crafted a precisely drawn portrait of a surly, emotionally stunted woman. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Reteaming pop-savvy scribe Diablo Cody with Juno director Jason Reitman, Young Adult revels in breaking the rules of safe Hollywood storytelling. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Young Adult might be brushed off as curdled rom-com were it not for two things. The first is the depth of Theron's performance. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: There's enough grit in the film's gears to keep the forward motion from ever getting too smooth. Read more