"Young Adult" is a Yawn

Isn’t even a black comedy supposed to be funny? “Young Adult” is promoted as such and has strong comedy credentials behind it. Director Jason Reitman once again teamed with writer Diablo Cody (they worked together on “Juno”). Another plus being the movie stars the stunning Charlize Theron playing a depressed thirty-something, Mavis Gray.

The film is being touted to the hilt as a comedy, but after viewing the movie in a reasonably full theatre filled with high expectations, reality hit. There was little laughter and much stirring (presumably from boredom). The best thing about the 94 minute feature was that it wasn’t any longer. One would hate to waste two hours of one’s life on such presumptuous dribble.

Mavis is depressed and feels the solution to life’s problems is to reconnect (and marry) her high school boyfriend (Patrick Wilson). The rub being he’s already happily married with a new baby. Drowning her sorrows with either liters of Diet Coke or multiple shots of Maker’s Mark prove futile for Mavis and only the awkward connection with a formerly unnoticed peer from high school (Patton Oswalt) brings a twinge of reality to her skewed world.

Theron is a terrific actress, but this vehicle won’t do her any favors. Comedian Oswalt is the only bright spot in “Young Adult”, but that’s not enough to entice even the world’s most tortured insomniac to see this movie.