From the director and writer of the smash hit JUNO, Diablo Cody comes the comedic tale of one "popular" high school girl's return to her home town of Mercury, Minnesota. Played perfectly by the lovely and, of course beautiful, Charlize Theron its almost hard to believe she won an Oscar for her awarding winning role of a female serial killer in Monster. Through this character, named Mavis, she dragged me almost kicking and screaming back to the place where she returns in order to "win" back her high school jock boyfriend, Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson). Who now has a new baby and a wonderful free spirited wife, played by Twilight star, Elizabeth Reaser. The fantastic direction by Jason Rietman of such films as Up in the Air and Thank You for Smoking it is no smaller wonder that I enjoyed this film, because both of those films are equally entertaining and thought provoking.
From the moment "sleeping beauty" awakes to her life of writing young adult romance novels and climbs out of bed peeling off yesterday's clothes, you are instantly drawn into an abyss of Mavis's narcissism mixed with depression washed down with lots of hard alcohol. And I mean lots of it. Everyday it seems she passes out and awakes with a hangover, and is constantly getting messages from her boss wondering where her latest book chapters are. There is a great scene with her and a book seller at the local book store about "her" books. As she is trying to write her possibly last edition to her book series, she sees a email with the announcement of Blade's baby. Thus begins her journey back to Mercury and perhaps back into the arms of Buddy. She oozes so much confidence with her tight outfits, loads of make-up and hair pieces that she thinks she can actually "win" over Buddy despite his happy but exhausted family life. Mavis in her very selfish haze is oblivious to her narcissistic ways continues to go after Buddy even at a very important baby naming ceremony back at his home. During a confrontation between Buddy and Mavis in which he asks her to leave, she bumps into Beth and a major scene ensues. I remember thinking I hope this is a major wake up call for Mavis, but it only lasts as long as her sobriety, unfortunately, but realistically I am glad it did not turn into an ending that might otherwise occur with certain stories.
I was really annoyed, but was so transfixed on Mavis's multitudes of eye glares that could freeze you on the spot if you looked at her too long. I remember thinking that it must of been uncomfortable for Ms. Theron's face to keep doing those glances. I am always impressed by Diablo Cody's writing and this character is not different in that we have all probably faced someone like Mavis in our own high school days. I remember running into a few of those myself and stayed as far away from them as possible. There is another character who I thoroughly enjoyed and recognized, which was Matt, a mutual high school friend of both Mavis's and Buddy's. He (Patton Oshwalt) starred in the television show United States of Tara, also created by Diablo Cody as the very quirky best friend of the husband of Tara (Toni Collette). I highly recommend watching this show, by the way. Matt first sees Mavis at a local bar in Mercury that she happens to be drinking at and he immediately recognizes her, because she had her locker next to his in high school. Not surprising is Mavis's lack of recognition, for Matt is not exactly her type of person she would hang out with. However, this duo hangs out quite a lot and Matt plays Mavis's devil's advocate by being brutality honest with her at every turn. The dialogue between them is very tongue and cheek and this very unlikely pair is a delight. I highly recommend this film and give it a 8 out of 10.
Here is the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar_-v7dEEoo
From the moment "sleeping beauty" awakes to her life of writing young adult romance novels and climbs out of bed peeling off yesterday's clothes, you are instantly drawn into an abyss of Mavis's narcissism mixed with depression washed down with lots of hard alcohol. And I mean lots of it. Everyday it seems she passes out and awakes with a hangover, and is constantly getting messages from her boss wondering where her latest book chapters are. There is a great scene with her and a book seller at the local book store about "her" books. As she is trying to write her possibly last edition to her book series, she sees a email with the announcement of Blade's baby. Thus begins her journey back to Mercury and perhaps back into the arms of Buddy. She oozes so much confidence with her tight outfits, loads of make-up and hair pieces that she thinks she can actually "win" over Buddy despite his happy but exhausted family life. Mavis in her very selfish haze is oblivious to her narcissistic ways continues to go after Buddy even at a very important baby naming ceremony back at his home. During a confrontation between Buddy and Mavis in which he asks her to leave, she bumps into Beth and a major scene ensues. I remember thinking I hope this is a major wake up call for Mavis, but it only lasts as long as her sobriety, unfortunately, but realistically I am glad it did not turn into an ending that might otherwise occur with certain stories.
I was really annoyed, but was so transfixed on Mavis's multitudes of eye glares that could freeze you on the spot if you looked at her too long. I remember thinking that it must of been uncomfortable for Ms. Theron's face to keep doing those glances. I am always impressed by Diablo Cody's writing and this character is not different in that we have all probably faced someone like Mavis in our own high school days. I remember running into a few of those myself and stayed as far away from them as possible. There is another character who I thoroughly enjoyed and recognized, which was Matt, a mutual high school friend of both Mavis's and Buddy's. He (Patton Oshwalt) starred in the television show United States of Tara, also created by Diablo Cody as the very quirky best friend of the husband of Tara (Toni Collette). I highly recommend watching this show, by the way. Matt first sees Mavis at a local bar in Mercury that she happens to be drinking at and he immediately recognizes her, because she had her locker next to his in high school. Not surprising is Mavis's lack of recognition, for Matt is not exactly her type of person she would hang out with. However, this duo hangs out quite a lot and Matt plays Mavis's devil's advocate by being brutality honest with her at every turn. The dialogue between them is very tongue and cheek and this very unlikely pair is a delight. I highly recommend this film and give it a 8 out of 10.
Here is the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar_-v7dEEoo
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