Let's get this out of the way: this is much better than Jennifer's Body, not quite at the levels of Juno and U.S. of Tara though

I thought the movie was cool. The setup is this: a ghost writer of teen novels (Charlize Theron) bumps around Minneapolis, bored and getting drunk, until she gets an email from her high school boyfriend's wife, who has sent her a baby pic. Just like that, Charlize is back in her hometown, scheming and plotting to get her ex (Patrick Wilson) back, as another former high school classmate (Patton Oswalt) shakes his head.

Doesn't sound like much, and ultimately, it isn't. It's all surface level shit designed around Charlize playing one of these new Cinematically Rude White Girls, much like Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher. She curses like a sailor, she drinks (whiskey straight! and beer! and guzzles Diet Coke straight out the 2 liter bottle!) But for whatever reason, it all worked. The jokes (visual and spoken) were funny, as were a couple of cringe-worthy setpieces, and the story felt *somewhat* realistic... for the most part...

I enjoyed Charlize's performance and honestly expected not to. The trailers for the movie had me thinking, why is this crazy chick trying to get back with her happily married ex? And as a result, why should I see this movie? And here's the thing: based on the way this woman behaves, I wouldn't be upset with some viewers if they decide that they simply don't like this character. She's not really likable, as it were. She's pretty much an asshole, and by the time you hear why she's doing what she's doing, you may have already checked out and said eff this broad. And that's understandable.

I also thought that both Patton Oswalt and Patrick Wilson were fine, but I had a hard time buying that the ex wouldn't be able to see what this woman is doing and call her out on it early on... that was the only big bump for me, script-wise...

Which brings me back to Diablo's writing. If I remember, the thing that everyone disliked about the generally well-liked Juno was that the language was *too* stylized, too cute. Well, it certainly wasn't cute or stylized here. As we've discussed, Diablo's a pop culture baby; she won't hesitate to throw in loads of pop culture references in her storytelling, which some are bothered with. Well, here, there's not really much of that; Patton Oswalt's character has a homemade whiskey distillery in his garage (I know) that he named with a Star Wars reference (not to mention he lives with his sister), and Charlize passes by one of those KFC-Taco Bell-Pizza Hut hybrid shops which she revisits later. But I didn't note any annoying Diablo Cody "totally bitchin', dude!"/"this is just as bad when Dylan totally dissed that girl on 90210" references in this movie, though there are TV clips of the Kardashian reality show and a clip of that Kendra girl from whatever reality show she's famous for. Oh, and the ex's name is Buddy Slade, which just sounds like a name that Diablo Cody would give a male character. But again, nothing that was too distracting...

Again, this movie isn't on the "deeper" level that a movie like, say, Bridesmaids strives for, it's a fairly simple story about a woman who has her own motivation for going back home to see this man. I'm fairly certain that I'm not the target audience for it, but I enjoyed it just the same. If you're down on Diablo Cody, this movie probably won't cause you to change your opinion. She's a take-it-or-leave-it deal for most people... and while this script isn't another Juno, I thought that Diablo acquitted herself quite nicely...

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You would cry too if it happened to you.

I would've left out the email spoiler about the ex, but hey...

Anyways it's good and at times hard to watch, but totally forgettable after watching it.

Patton Olswald was killing the Q&A. That nigga had everyone dying as he's drinking gin. And even with the flu Charlize looked mad good. I would've smashed even if she was sick.

i can't wait to see this.

Diablo had me on "pause" mode with Jennifer's Body (which, as bad as it was, really HAD potential but it just fell short)

But, I was sold based on the fact that a)Cody and Reitman teamed up and for the most part, they work really well together b) Charlize Theron, hands down, is one of the more interesting actresses working these days...

and c) patton oswalt is funny as fuck for reals.

Charlize was GREAT.

But it's...not that good. Some well acted scenes, and some decent writing...but there's no point overall. And holy hell, that might have been the slowest 90 minute movie I've ever seen.

Not good.

i love charlize, i trust reitman, and unlike most, i appreciate Ms. D's writing. honestly it looks dumb, but i'll support because of those involved

As Ryan has pointed out, there's really no story

But to me that's really not a problem, because the lead character is honestly, quite fascinating

And just be warned, if you and/or your sister were fans of Juno and appreciated the sardonic/cute combination that was in that movie, don't expect to see the same thing here. Unlike that movie, the lead character here is almost completely unlikeable, and not cute or endearing at all, and a lot of what you're going to see is cringe-worthy and funny, and ultimately, very sad

That said, I really was impressed with how strong the writing was here, and it's a credit to the writing, Reitman's direction, and the performances of Charlize and Patton Oswalt that kept me invested in the story to see where it went next

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Cmon.

Not in the least bit slapsticky or anything.

It's well written. Moreso than I initially gave it credit for. I just didn't care for it on the whole. There's almost no real story. Worth seeing for Theron's performance though.

i enjoy unlikeable characters. maybe dumb was the wrong word, more like kind of silly. like it was Charlize doing her version of Cameron in bad teacher or some shit. like reaching for that young crowd/dollar. from your words though i'm more excited to see it

Is the story tight? Any glaring holes?
Is Charlize Theron as good in this as I remember?
How good are the supporting characters?
I remember WANTING to like the edit I saw, knowing it was gonna get cut some more. Will I be rewarded or disappointed?


"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams

>Is the story tight? Any glaring holes?

Not sure what you mean here, because there's very little story to speak of. I guess?

>Is Charlize Theron as good in this as I remember?

Yes. Probably better.

>How good are the supporting characters?

Outside of Patton's character, I didn't give a shit about anyone.


>I remember WANTING to like the edit I saw, knowing it was
>gonna get cut some more. Will I be rewarded or disappointed?

Probably disappointed. The story is very thin and just sort of stops at a certain point.

I'm no deep movie critic, but some initial thoughts.

1. They seem to be marketing this as funnier than it is meant to be, I expected a more lighthearted movie. Not slapstick but more of just a girl being funny and dumb trying to break up a couple unsuccessfully.

2. Like most people say there isn't much to it. Charlize was very good, Patton was pretty good, especially for a stand up comedian and not a normal actor for a role like this. Everyone else was kind of useless.

3. One thing that really bothered me is why even have the kiss? At the end when we find out the wife was the one pushing the husband to invite her it seems hat she really trusted him and felt sorry for her. The whole movie everyone keeps talking about what a good guy he is, but he (drunkenly) kissed his ex girlfriend and it is never addressed again. Not even a "that was a mistake" thrown in just to tie it up. Why not just have them maybe get close and then the babysitter come out?

4. I liked the end, the combo of her still basically being a bit crazy, but also showing that there will always be people who will kiss a person like her's ass and build her back up. Girls like that will always be insecure and a bit crazy, but they will always be ok and admired because they are white, pretty and privileged. At least thats how I took it.
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<---- High Octane

>3. One thing that really bothered me is why even have the
>kiss? At the end when we find out the wife was the one pushing
>the husband to invite her it seems hat she really trusted him
>and felt sorry for her. The whole movie everyone keeps talking
>about what a good guy he is, but he (drunkenly) kissed his ex
>girlfriend and it is never addressed again. Not even a "that
>was a mistake" thrown in just to tie it up. Why not just have
>them maybe get close and then the babysitter come out?

It's why even she didn't mention it in her rant. Dude was DEAD ASS DRUNK, she blatantly made the first move, and it was for like 2 seconds with no tongue involved. I also kept expect someone to pull it out because they would really play it up in another movie, but taking a step back it really was nothing in the scheme of things...he probably didn't even remember.

No, it's not.

But I enjoyed this. Theron and Patton Oswalt both gave exceptional performances, the dialogue actually made me look forward to Diablo Cody's next work (and nobody even needed to point out they were talking on a cheeseburger phone) and I was okay with the non-story, mostly for the reasons Zoo outlined. Her character is oddly fascinating, and I actually liked her almost-but-not-quite turn at the end. The world is filled with people like this, and they usually live their lives without self awareness because they will always find people who are willing to enable their awful behavior. Even when it seems like everything in the world has finally hit them smack in the face and told them they need to change, someone will be able to let them bask in the glory of their own assholishness and let them know it's okay.

And nobody actually calls it the Minny Apple.

If you have any knowledge of storytelling you could figure out where this film was going to go, not a real knock more like there were no real surprises for me. The acting was strong.


Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.-Tyler Durden

...it's not a deep movie by any means, but people saying there was little story, missed the actual point IMHO...

she writes stories for a living, but has none of her own...she's mad at the world, pretending she had this great life when it's all empty....she's been self saboting for years, as the movie shows, and it's unclear that she'll ever stop....she honestly cannot understand how the people of this town could be happy and STILL be living in the town...shit, i'd say the movie could easily be interpreted as a woman reaching rock bottom after making a crazy attempt at some sort of happiness....

...i really liked this movie for a few more reasons, but i guess it's not for everyone...again, it wasn't deep by any means, but i really kliked the lil twists and turns the story took and the things the main character does in reaction to her various situations...in the end tho, i was REALLY happy she didn't stay with Oswalt's character, cause when i saw the trailer, and even going into the movie, i was sure she would...

**oh and while i get the connections between this and Bad Teacher, i'd say BT really had NO point or consequences...this movie has both..

>i'd say the movie could easily be interpreted as a woman
>reaching rock bottom after making a crazy attempt at some sort
>of happiness....

>Doesn't sound like much, and ultimately, it isn't.

But I didn't think that was the point. Imho it was a flick about a person with obvious mental issues reaching the ROCK bottom...I took it more as of a 'Rachel Got Married' character study then anything else. There is a very dark core to this movie; comparing it to Bad Teacher is a disservice. We may have been laughing at certain jokes (what Oswalt went through) but it's really not funny and the movie didn't necessarily lob it at you as broad comedy either.

Because of that I thought it showed much more growth from Diablo then we've seen then Jennifer's Body or U.S. Tara(hyper-unrealistic). Theron goes for the gold and nails it. One of my fav movies this year.

And the script and the performances?

Apparently so.

It is possible to dig the character study being presented here and still acknowledge that from a "plot" standpoint, there's really not much going on.

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A TOM CROOZE PRODUCTION.

You forget I have a PHD in snark!

Like what you said about it not being as deep as Bridemaids I thought was unfair. You could break down it's plot in one simple sentence also : old friend feeling pushed out by new friend while planning a wedding. Movies like this tend not to be complex plot wise because it's pretty much about character interaction(and they usually keep the characters to a minimum).

"That said, I really was impressed with how strong the writing was here, and it's a credit to the writing, Reitman's direction, and the performances of Charlize and Patton Oswalt that kept me invested in the story to see where it went next"

^^^ Begrudging praise

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A TOM CROOZE PRODUCTION.

>"That said, I really was impressed with how strong the
>writing was here, and it's a credit to the writing, Reitman's
>direction, and the performances of Charlize and Patton Oswalt
>that kept me invested in the story to see where it went next"

Im trying to make this hit at least 30 replies, lol.

>Im trying to make this hit at least 30 replies, lol.

The people are sleeping on this movie

We stay woke

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A TOM CROOZE PRODUCTION.

I slept too, it's only cause I had two hours to kill and I was surprised how well made it was (particular cause I had some of the same pre-conceptions you killed in the OP).

...and then again, i'm not....the casual moviegoer probably won't like this movie at all...

you think they're about to sit down and have this heart-string-pulling come-to-jesus revelatory talk

instead ol girl just kisses charlize's ass a little bit and sends her on her way
a little more grounded in teh weird-ass world she was already living in

She's like "no, I'm a really bad person, I need help," absolutely trying to break through and change. But the sister was able to smother her in her own bullshit enough to keep her on the same track she was on.

Loved it.

There was some kind of self-awareness dawning, and the sister just squashed it with alarming thoroughness.

"little people" really do look up to the 'stars' in admiration, no matter HOW misguided.

their respective delusions because the bottom line is if you still have 'em by that point they're not going anywhere.

Sis knew she struck a chord, even decided for once to be brave & earnestly ask if she could go with her, then got quickly shut-down with 'you're good here' which was both condescending bullshit & sound advice.

Theron's tone/delivery of that line & sis' reaction face were pitch-perfect.

These people are who they are, that might not even be a totally bad thing.

Any forced/uncharacteristic attempts at digging deeper to take inventory only leads to further unquantifiable messes with displaced shelves & shit splayed across the stock room floor.

Shit is DARK

and unlike others, their is definitely a story here and Charlize, outside of Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin) had the best acting performance of last year. The ways she subtly moves from boredom to anger to self- deprecation to depression to lashing out against "innocent" folk, is jarring. The scene when she first meets her ex at the "bar"... when they get to the parking lot, damn that was uncomfortable and wonderfully acted. It makes me place her above Julianne Moore for best working actresses (don't bring up the GOAT Streep, no need to). Patton was really endearing/engaging as well.

I also feel Diablo's writing style actually works much better within this dynamic because it's adults playing the roles and Reitman's directing is very well paced and sets a very good uneasy tone throughout that compliments Diablo's characters very well.

Beyond Mavis' psychosis and break, the film really has a subtext that interrogates the social constructions of the small town/suburb life versus life in the city. It's very critical of both and i think encapsulates the banality of suburbia and the superficiality of city life in that last coffee conversation.

@@@ / @@@ 1/2 out of 5

Reg s right y'all are pretty begrudging in here


~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

.

Of course Theron and Oswalt killed it. A little over the top regarding Therons supposed emotional issues as the big reveal subject matter is something that effects women far greater than folks realize but still, well written as much as could be by Cody imo. Like someone stated, it was akin to Rachel Getting Married but more concise imo.

What a great squirmy uncomfortable realistic sex scene.

i REALLY liked the first hour and twenty minutes.

then the scene with Charlize and Patton Oswalt's sister happened and I now hate the movie. what I hated about that scene is that the message of that scene between the two really underminded any real and sincere emotional depth and momentum that the movie had generated at that point.

i'm not really clinical with my movie watching, but i really liked the naturalism of Charlize's character and the smartness and awareness that was used by the writer to show Charlize's and Oswalt's depression. they both were displayed with a seemingly genuine sense of the emotional deadness and feelings of being trapped by depression. as someone who struggles with emotional health, that realism really stuck out to me.

but when Oswalt's sister basically dismissed the real and hard-earned insight Charlize's character had made by basically saying that Charlize's character's need to genuinely connect with people would be better served looking fashionable in cute dresses and hanging out with vapid people in a city over a town. wow, real deep writing there.

granted, ending this movie seems like it would be a bit more difficult as it seems. if Charlize's character does a complete 180-turn based off the incident at Wilson's house, that seems unrealistic, and if she decided to stay in the town and be with Oswalt until that relationship ended, that would have seemed like pandering. (although, they both seemed well-matched emotionally.)

i thought that up until that scene in the house, the movie was well-written, but that scene really pissed in my Wheaties.

Charlize was great in this, as was the acting all-across the board.

i do agree with Zoo, that Wilson's character seemed blind to Charlize's motives until she outright declared them to him. it would have been smarter to write Wilson as more aware of her motivations or at the least perhaps entertained Charlize's advance because of wanting to have what he once did.

i know this isn't a 'bad' movie, and I wouldn't tell people not to see it. but the ending made this one of the worst movie experiences I've had in a while.

Comparing Charlize to Diaz is just wrong. Bad Teacher was an over the top someone playing drunk, This character was an actual alcoholic. She has issues that everyone skipped over. She even told her parents in a rare moment of Clarity "I think i'm an alcoholic" and they just brushed it aside. She was dying to get some help, but then got happily placed back into her dream world of overimportance and sloth.

Theron gives a great performance, Oswalt gives a great performance. The vibe of small town america was pretty good.

The big scene at the party was fucking great, the entire party felt bad for her, but not really. She's not a good person at heart, but she's also a woman that is incredibly unhappy and lonely. Hence why she clings so heavily to her HS life.

This shit was good. I enjoyed it and I felt that last scene with the sister was incredibly effective. Liked all of it.

This movie was sold on the idea of coming to see Charlize Theron be another wild and crazy hot white girl. There was no advertising regarding her character's depth.

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Everybody knows that the best way to Attack The Media Status Quo™ is... by posting on a message board!

>Comparing Charlize to Diaz is just wrong. Bad Teacher was an
>over the top someone playing drunk, This character was an
>actual alcoholic. She has issues that everyone skipped over.
>She even told her parents in a rare moment of Clarity "I think
>i'm an alcoholic" and they just brushed it aside. She was
>dying to get some help, but then got happily placed back into
>her dream world of overimportance and sloth.
>
>Theron gives a great performance, Oswalt gives a great
>performance. The vibe of small town america was pretty good.
>
>The big scene at the party was fucking great, the entire party
>felt bad for her, but not really. She's not a good person at
>heart, but she's also a woman that is incredibly unhappy and
>lonely. Hence why she clings so heavily to her HS life.
>
>This shit was good. I enjoyed it and I felt that last scene
>with the sister was incredibly effective. Liked all of it.

just because the character is a deluded narcissist bordering on vapid doesn't make the film empty.

This film was about a hundred times realer than 'Juno' without having a hot-button 'issue' to address like teen pregnancy.

It's what 'Margot At The Wedding' might have been if it hadn't drown in its own self-seriousness & Kidman had delivered the more subtle, nuanced approach to neuroses that Theron does here.

'Beautiful Girls' without its more cringe-worthy cheesiest aspects.

I liked 'Up In The Air' just fine but Clooney basically does a longer, less funny, less entertaining meditation on these centuries-old 'man without a country'/disconnected/self-deluded/alone-approaching-middle-age tropes with "The Air Up There" that earns him a rack of Oscars while this movie doesn't garner a single nomination.

That could be my sliding Clooney-scale for critics giving any film he's in at least half a letter-grade higher than it would have deserved if it had been the same quality movie with say, Dennis Quaid.

It could be because that the male-dominated film critique community has trouble evaluating female-centered roles that don't have a dramatic hook to hang your hat on like Theron-in-ugly-make-up, Swank-pretending-to-have-a-dick-or-being-women's-boxing-version-of-Terry-Schiavo, Halle whipping her titties out in grief, Portman finger-fucking-herself-into-psychodramatic-frenzy, etc.

Maybe a combination of the two.

I don't know where the lack of story comes from, it's absolutely true to the one its telling from start to finish and its themes certainly aren't frivolous despite it not needing to hammer them home to the audience.

Everything works from the final adolescent-story-volume she's crafting while on a desperate trip to re-imagine her own, the use of music (having the same Teenage Fanclub song played three or four different times & having it mean something different each time), the mixed bag of envy/contempt/pity that at times exists on both sides of the small-town/small-town-but-moved-to-the-big-town fence, Oswalt being victimized but less pitiable and far more capable of self-love than the homecoming-queen he always wanted to fuck, her telling exchanges/subtle-wars with hotel-clerks/retail people, the Mini-Apple, etc.

But given the subject matter it's no miracle it was ignored/slept on. This ain't what the typical movie going american wants to see.

>But given the subject matter it's no miracle it was
>ignored/slept on. This ain't what the typical movie going
>american wants to see.

...or, at least part of the reason that it didn't catch on with general audiences. They gave 'em the old bait and switch. They tried to sell it as like a grown-up version of Mean Girls or some shit. People thought they were going to see a straight forward comedy about some dumb, bitchy lady who stuck on her old glory days. They didn't know it was going to be a dark, nuanced character study. I remember stumbling across some funny user reviews of this movie on iTunes where people were like "OMG Worst Movie Ever! It was NOT funny AT ALL. Total waste of time."

The reluctance of audiences to embrace female antiheroes probably didn't help either though, I agree.

(It's also probably worth noting that this was actually fairly well-received critically, with a pretty solid score of 73 on metacritic.)

I just remember wanting to see it, blinking & missing the theater run.

>The reluctance of audiences to embrace female antiheroes
>probably didn't help either though, I agree.
>
>(It's also probably worth noting that this was actually fairly
>well-received critically, with a pretty solid score of 73 on
>metacritic.)

Yes but Clooney's joint got an 83, 90 in the critic side of RT's & Oscars.

I honestly feel this was a better flick but maybe I'm alone in that.