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.