The other day I watched Young Adult on DVD and after the movie was finished, my initial reaction was “well that was not what I expected.” Immediately after thinking that, my next reaction was “that movie was not good at all.” I’ve seen my fair share of movies, probably more than the average person, and have an impressive DVD collection made up of a wide variety of genres. I consider myself rather knowledgeable when it comes to movies but have never claimed to be a professional critic. So when I put a label on a movie ranging from “perfect” to “angry that a movie just stole an hour or so of my life away from me”, I want there to be reasons and meaning behind the label. After my initial reactions from watching Young Adult, I did some research and thought analytically about the movie for the next couple of days. My goal was to answer the main question anyone asks after they watch [google_bot_show][/google_bot_show]free HD movies online – was it good or bad?
As a comedy, Young Adult is awful. How this movie is classified as a comedy is beyond me. There were literally three (sort of) funny scenes in the entire movie. The first being when Mavis, Charlize Theron’s character, tells a hotel receptionist that there is not a dog in her purse when it is obvious that something is in the purse because it moves. The second is when Mavis tells a department store worker that she wants a dress to make her ex-boyfriend’s wife jealous and the third is when Mavis runs her car into a pole. The rest of the movie is Mavis speaking via monolog about how perfect she is, drinking, waking up hungover, or being rude. As a result, the viewer finds themself hoping that Mavis would not fulfill the original premise that the entire movie is based upon because she is simply (to summarize other potential adjectives) a bad person. That leads this movie to be more depressing and sad, which is the opposite of funny or comical.
As a documentary, Young Adult is pretty good. What kind of documentary is it you ask? It’s a documentary about that girl from high school that everyone “loved to hate” and what the life of such a girl is like down the road if she doesn’t grow up. You know, that girl from high school that was outrageously attractive, popular and got everything she wanted but was also self-centered, dramatic, and just plain mean. This movie does a pretty good job of showing that the road for such a girl becomes depressing and that potential negative side effects include alcoholism, inability to maintain relationships, and loneliness. Young Adult achieves this through good acting by Charlize Theron, who is undeniably an “A-list” actress. And even though I didn’t like the ending, I have to give credit for it being realistic rather than too “Hollywood”, where unbelievable events happen and everything works out perfectly.
So to answer that age-old question of “is it a good or bad movie?”, I have to say that Young Adult is not a good comedy, but at least the ending is realistic.