Young Adult
In Young Adult, Diablo Cody has, honest to blog, written her most natural sounding script to date. Everything that Charlize Theron says could be reasonably expected to emerge from the mouth of a 37 year old woman desperate to recapture the glory of her youth, to recreate the days before real life took hold and disappointment kicked in.
It's a pity, then, that the film seems so distant. It's not happy, but it doesn't have to be; it would be hypocritical of me to complain on one day that The Artist was too happy and Young Adult was too bitter. This is supposed to be a character study of Theron's Mavis Geary, but it's more of a snapshot of someone that we would like to know better, and someone that we feel more sympathy than distaste for.
Alas, it's not to be, and Young Adult comes to us as a compelling film, but one that feels strangely incomplete.