diff --git "a/5981a321-6195-41d1-8ba2-89a1dde55e0c.json" "b/5981a321-6195-41d1-8ba2-89a1dde55e0c.json" new file mode 100644--- /dev/null +++ "b/5981a321-6195-41d1-8ba2-89a1dde55e0c.json" @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ +{ + "interaction_id": "5981a321-6195-41d1-8ba2-89a1dde55e0c", + "search_results": [ + { + "page_name": "Young Adult (2011) \u2b50 6.3 | Comedy, Drama", + "page_url": "https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1625346/", + "page_snippet": "Young Adult: Directed by Jason Reitman. With Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser. Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend who is now happily married and has a newborn ...Young Adult: Directed by Jason Reitman. With Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser. Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend who is now happily married and has a newborn daughter. Reitman knows what he's doing. Like all of his other movies, he doesn't try to stuff you up with heavy emotions. Even the most melodramatic events would be presented with a light and refreshing approach in his movies. That's where his vision stands out. And Charlize Theron does a wonderful job supplementing Jason Reitman's vision. 'Young Adult' is the fourth feature of Jason Reitman, whose movies have always had a refreshing indie feel. When I look back to his filmography, I think they all have these protagonists who are in process of self- discovery. Over the course of events, they found the new one/lost one of themselves. Like I said, it ends with a self-discovery. Reitman knows what he's doing. Like all of his other movies, he doesn't try to stuff you up with heavy emotions. Even the most melodramatic events would be presented with a light and refreshing approach in his movies.", + "page_result": "Young Adult (2011) - IMDb
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IMDbPro

Young Adult

IMDb RATING
6.3/10
88K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,548
1,108
\"Charlize
\"A
Play trailer2:00
20 Videos
99+ Photos
ComedyDrama

Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend who is now happily married and has a newborn daughte... Read allSoon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend who is now happily married and has a newborn daughter.Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend who is now happily married and has a newborn daughter.

    • IMDb RATING
    6.3/10
    88K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    3,548
    1,108
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    Videos20

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    \""Bookstore"\"
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    Watch Young Adult: Checking In

    Photos133

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    \"Charlize
    Charlize Theron
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    Patrick Wilson
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    Elizabeth Reaser
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    Jill Eikenberry
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    Richard Bekins
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    Mary Beth Hurt
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    Kate Nowlin
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    Rebecca Hart
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    Elizabeth Ward Land
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    Brian McElhaney
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    John Forest
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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      The word processor file in which Mavis composes her novel throughout the film is titled "pieceofshit.doc".
    • Goofs
      When Charlize Theron is sitting in KFC, the cup says KGC from one angle and then KFC from another. While thought to be a mistake, the cup reads "KGC" because for a short while, Kentucky Fried Chicken tried to rebrand itself as Kentucky Grilled Chicken, offering a healthier option to their original fried chicken. The cup bears the new, short-lived KGC logo.
    • Quotes

      Mavis Gary: Hey, do you know this girl named Beth? She married Buddy Slade from school.

      Sandra Freehauf: Yeah, I know that Beth.

      Mavis Gary: What do you think of her?

      Sandra Freehauf: I don't really like her. I mean, I think you're way prettier than she is. What happened to your dress? I'm sorry, did I say something wrong? Shit. What's wrong? What did I say?

      Mavis Gary: I have a lot of problems.

      Sandra Freehauf: Can't you get a new dress?

      Mavis Gary: It's really difficult for me to be happy. And then for other people it just seems so simple. I know. They just grow up and they're so fulfilled.

      Sandra Freehauf: I don't feel fulfilled. And frankly, if you don't feel fulfilled with all the stuff that you have.

      Mavis Gary: I need to change, Sandra.

      Sandra Freehauf: No you don't.

      Mavis Gary: What?

      Sandra Freehauf: You're the only person in Mercury who could write a book or wear a dress like that.

      Mavis Gary: I'm sure there's plenty of other people who could.

      Sandra Freehauf: Everyone here is fat and dumb.

      Mavis Gary: Don't say that. I mean, you think so?

      Sandra Freehauf: Everyone wishes that they could be like you. You know, living in the big city all famous and beautiful and all that.

      Mavis Gary: I'm not really famous.

      Sandra Freehauf: Well, you know, special or whatever. I mean, some days when I have a slow shift at work I'll sit and think about you living in your cool apartment, going out and stuff. It seems really nice.

      Mavis Gary: Yeah, but most people here seem so happy with so little. It's like they don't even seem to care what happens to them.

      Sandra Freehauf: That's because it doesn't matter what happens to them. They're nothing. Might as well die. Fuck Mercury.

    User reviews284

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Theron Delivers the Goods as the Unrepentant Queen of Small-Town Mean
    Without an iota of irony, Charlize Theron finally uses her intimidating beauty for pure Machiavellian evil, and the results are fortuitous in this dark-hued 2011 comedy, the latest collaboration of director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody ("Juno"). She's absolutely spot-on terrific playing Mavis Gary, the condescending, hateful high school girl who comes back to Mercury, her podunk hometown nearly two decades later. Mavis is no Blanche Dubois-type character whose ladylike beauty has faded into a gauzy romantic delusion. No, Mavis is still one hot babe and very much the complete narcissist she was as a teenager, emotionally stunted despite her relative worldliness having moved to Minneapolis to become a ghostwriter of a series of teen novels.

    It's not surprising she finds success writing for an adolescent audience since she still defines her life with teenage-level priorities and fantasies. As she has proved with "Juno", Cody is thoroughly fluent with this perspective, but the twist is that this time, it's coming from a jaded 37-year-old woman. Even though Mavis is a divorc\u00e9e who lives in a high-rise apartment with a toy dog and can easily get any man she wants, she is triggered by a birth announcement email she receives from her high school sweetheart Buddy Slade and becomes fixated on getting him back all these years later. It doesn't matter that he's happily married and perfectly content living in Mercury. She concocts a scheme to make herself so alluring that he will want to run away with her. Normally, this would be an excuse for broad comedy machinations, but Theron is so gorgeous that it makes her shameless attempts at seduction all the more edgily desperate.

    It's a narrowly developed plot for sure, but surprisingly, what enriches the proceedings is the unexpected relationship Mavis develops with Matt Freehauf, a sad-sack former classmate whose sole claim to notoriety was being the victim of a hate crime when he was beaten up and left for dead by a group of jocks who assumed he was gay. He has been left crippled, living in Mercury with his sister making his own home-brewed bourbon and putting together mix-and-match action figures. That Mavis and Matt connect is all the more intriguing since they were at opposite ends of the social spectrum back in school, and their present-day bond is also fueled by her obvious alcoholism, a point that is overlooked by her befuddled parents who wish to think of Mavis as the flawless pretty daughter of their own deluded fantasies. The story evolves in the direction you would expect but not before certain revelations come to light in a tortuous scene at the baby-naming party Buddy and his sensible wife Beth have with all their relatives and close friends in attendance.

    Beyond Theron's fearless work and intentionally deadpan line delivery, there is comedian Patton Oswalt's surprisingly affecting performance as Matt. I only know him from his recurring role as a comical sad-sack on the sitcom "King of Queens", so it's surprising to see the amount of texture he brings to this role. As Buddy, Patrick Wilson once again plays the sought-after himbo, but this time, his character's unshaven, small-town modesty comes across as more contrite with his character's feelings toward Mavis left quite elliptical. Elizabeth Reaser ("Sweet Land") isn't given that much to do as Beth, probably by intention, but Collette Wolf has a few impactful moments as Matt's insulated sister still idolizing Mavis after all these years. As he showed with "Juno" and "Up in the Air", Reitman shows a deft hand with actors playing flawed characters who try to manipulate their circumstances but fall short of their vaunted expectations.
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    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $12,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $16,311,571
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $310,263
      • Dec 11, 2011
    • Gross worldwide
      • $22,939,027

    Technical specs

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    ", + "page_last_modified": "" + }, + { + "page_name": "Where Jason Reitman Went Wrong - The Atlantic", + "page_url": "https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/10/the-fall-of-jason-reitman/381044/", + "page_snippet": "Once a critical darling, the Men, Women & Children director appears to be on the disastrous M. Night Shyamalan trajectory. The problem? Hubris.Reitman was Oscar-nominated for directing two of his first three films (Juno and Up in the Air), a nearly unheard-of achievement, and largely skated by any charge of being \"overrated\" (Juno took some flak for its smart-aleck dialogue, but that fell at the feet of screenwriter Diablo Cody). His fourth film, Young Adult, also written by Cody, was an acidic story that was well-reviewed and found a niche audience. His fourth film, Young Adult, also written by Cody, was an acidic story that was well-reviewed and found a niche audience. On its own, Labor Day (a disastrously campy escaped-convict-meets-repressed-housewife yarn) could simply be dismissed as a blip. But with Men, Women & Children, Reitman's career seems to be developing a worrying trend. Would Reitman be under fire if Men, Women & Children wasn't so needlessly hectoring? Or is there an unavoidable target on his back that comes with being an acclaimed young filmmaker? Reitman was Oscar-nominated for directing two of his first three films (Juno and Up in the Air), a nearly unheard-of achievement, and largely skated by any charge of being \"overrated\" (Juno took some flak for its smart-aleck dialogue, but that fell at the feet of screenwriter Diablo Cody). Men, Women & Children lacks that humanity\u2014most of its big ensemble come off as storytelling cyphers to essay some blindingly obvious point, like \u201cmiddle-aged married couples can get sexually restless\u201d or \u201cyoung people sometimes use video games to escape real life.\u201d \u00b7 Reitman committed the fundamental hubristic error of thinking himself a great social commentator.", + "page_result": "Where Jason Reitman Went Wrong - The Atlantic
    Culture

    Where Jason Reitman Went Wrong

    Once a critical darling, the Men, Women & Children director appears to be on the disastrous M. Night Shyamalan trajectory. The problem? Hubris.

    By David Sims
    \"\"
    Reitman on the set of the film that began the series of disappointments, Labor Day\u00a0(Paramount Pictures)

    Five years ago, Jason Reitman's Up in the Air was released to rave reviews, a slew of Oscar nominations, and box-office success. Critics praised it as a timely, heartfelt work that tapped into anxiety about the ongoing recession and the wave of unemployment beleaguering the nation. Now, though, he's released his sixth film, Men, Women & Children, and it looks to be his worst-received yet, which is saying something after the critical drubbing his last effort, romantic melodrama Labor Day, got in 2013.

    Pretty much every filmmaker has to contend with bad reviews at some point, but the distressing implication in this case is that Reitman has lost whatever human touch he used to possess. Men, Women & Children is \"obvious and mundane, 'Chopsticks' pounded on the piano,\" writes Amy Nicholson in The Village Voice. \"And it doesn't feel like the work of Jason Reitman, who made a sterling debut with a string of smart comedies.\" The Atlantic's Christopher Orr calls it \"a near-total misfire, by turns sour, preachy, facile, and pretentious.\" Where Thank You for Smoking and especially Juno and Up in the Air broadly connected with audiences and critics, Men, Women & Children is being lambasted as a tone-deaf piece of cultural commentary, hysterically decrying addictions to screens and social networking as an existential crisis for middle-class America.

    Recommended Reading

    Would Reitman be under fire if Men, Women & Children wasn't so needlessly hectoring? Or is there an unavoidable target on his back that comes with being an acclaimed young filmmaker? Reitman was Oscar-nominated for directing two of his first three films (Juno and Up in the Air), a nearly unheard-of achievement, and largely skated by any charge of being \"overrated\" (Juno took some flak for its smart-aleck dialogue, but that fell at the feet of screenwriter Diablo Cody). His fourth film, Young Adult, also written by Cody, was an acidic story that was well-reviewed and found a niche audience. On its own, Labor Day (a disastrously campy escaped-convict-meets-repressed-housewife yarn) could simply be dismissed as a blip. But with Men, Women & Children, Reitman's career seems to be developing a worrying trend. He\u2019s taking his material far too seriously and has lost sight of the humor and humanity of his earlier works.

    The most obvious comparison for \"wunderkind gone sour\" in recent memory is M. Night Shyamalan, who was Oscar-nominated at 29 for making The Sixth Sense (the second highest-grossing movie of 1999) but hasn't directed a remotely well-received film since 2002's Signs. In retrospect, that film hinted at the hubris that would befoul his later efforts. He inexplicably cast himself in a crucial role and his famed skill for endings suddenly vanished (alien invaders of a watery planet have a critical weakness against water). Two films later, The Lady in the Water saw Shyamalan casting himself as a writer destined to create great works of literature; that and every subsequent effort have been laughed out of theaters by critics.

    Shyamalan now appears to be attempting a \"return to his roots\" with a low-budget horror movie. The problem for Reitman is that he can\u2019t attempt the same. His model has been remarkably consistent\u2014when he\u2019s not directing Cody\u2019s screenplays, he\u2019s adapting a contemporary novel and injecting some visual verve and a carefully curated soundtrack. The problem can\u2019t entirely be chalked up to the source material, since Up in the Air could have taken an equally dour tack (it\u2019s about a lonely man whose job is firing people) but managed to find warmth for its characters even as George Clooney told angry, sobbing employees they were losing their jobs. Men, Women & Children lacks that humanity\u2014most of its big ensemble come off as storytelling cyphers to essay some blindingly obvious point, like \u201cmiddle-aged married couples can get sexually restless\u201d or \u201cyoung people sometimes use video games to escape real life.\u201d

    The other thing that separates Reitman from Shyamalan is his self-awareness. He was candid in a recent interview with ScreenCrush\u2019s Mike Ryan about the failure of Labor Day, saying he was well-aware of his golden streak with critics being broken. \u201cIt\u2019s shitty as hell. It\u2019s totally shitty,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, I was proud of my Tomato Rating and, yeah, it sucked \u2026 I\u2019ve done more work on that movie than I\u2019ve ever done on a movie. I\u2019m proud of it. And then it doesn\u2019t land and then you realize, oh, this was a misguided effort, for whatever reason.\u201d

    Reitman could figure things out and rise again; Hollywood is littered with just as many surprise comebacks as it is with stories of faded superstars. But his is still a fascinating cautionary tale. Even when sticking close to his personal brand (he says in that interview that Men, Women & Children is \u201cmore in my natural voice\u201d) he seems to have lost the finesse that distinguished his earlier films. Consider Bennett Miller, another classic wunderkind (although one who got started at a later age\u2014his debut fiction film Capote came out when he was 39). He has so far followed a very specific formula, making somewhat chilly biopics that semi-fictionally expound upon the internal lives of real-life figures\u2014Truman Capote and, in Moneyball, Oakland A\u2019s GM Billy Beane. This year he has Foxcatcher, which is about the crazy-but-true John du Pont saga, and it\u2019s getting raves consistent with his previous work.

    Would things change drastically if Miller left his comfort zone, as Reitman did with Labor Day? Maybe. But in Men, Women & Children, I would argue Reitman committed the more fundamental hubristic error of thinking himself a great social commentator. Only Up in the Air really felt like it had something sweeping to say about the state of our nation, and it did it by telling a personal story. By contrast, Men, Women & Children explicitly criticizes people for having their heads in their phones, but forgets to ground the story in anything relatable. Reitman is largely sticking to his formula, but would be well-served to narrow his focus next time on to characters anyone can actually care about.

    David Sims is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers culture.
    ", + "page_last_modified": "" + }, + { + "page_name": "'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' director Jason Reitman used his ...", + "page_url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/ghostbusters-afterliife-jason-reitman-interview-2021-10", + "page_snippet": "His father made the iconic 1984 comedy and finally Jason Reitman is ready to make his own "Ghostbusters" movie.Reitman had a giant smile on his face as he recounted via Zoom his very brief time in the Transformers universe, eventually working on scripts (specifically punching up the dialogue) for \"Dark of the Moon\" and \"Age of Extinction.\" By the end of his story, he drove home the point: Filmmakers are allowed to do things beyond what they are known for. Years before Reitman decided to finally follow in his father's footsteps and direct a \"Ghostbusters\" movie, he was invited by Michael Bay to work on another blockbuster franchise \u2014 \"Transformers.\" ... Reitman had a giant smile on his face as he recounted via Zoom his very brief time in the Transformers universe, eventually working on scripts (specifically punching up the dialogue) for \"Dark of the Moon\" and \"Age of Extinction.\" To play in that 'Transformers' world was like, I used to play with Transformers now I get to play in 'Transformers.'\" Now Reitman is taking that thinking a step further with his latest movie, \"Ghostbusters: Afterlife,\" in theaters November 19, the latest sequel in the franchise that his father, Ivan Reitman, launched. One of Reitman's fondest memories as a kid was going to the set of \"Ghostbusters\" back in the 1983. Side-by-side with his dad, he watched in awe as his father directed. It was an eye-opening experience for the young Reitman; a glimpse behind the curtain of how all those movies he went to see with his dad were pulled off.", + "page_result": "\n\n\n\n\n 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife': Jason Reitman Takes on the Family Franchise\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n \n (function(){\n const parseJwt = token => {\n // This functions receives the encoded JWT token and decode it.\n const base64Url = token.split('.')[1];\n const base64 = base64Url.replace(/-/g, '+').replace(/_/g, '/');\n const jsonPayload = decodeURIComponent(atob(base64).split('').map(c => `%${(`00${c.charCodeAt(0).toString(16)}`).slice(-2)}`).join(''));\n \n return JSON.parse(jsonPayload);\n };\n \n const uuid = () => {\n try {\n return crypto.randomUUID();\n } catch (error) {\n return 'xxxxxxxx-xxxx-4xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx'.replace(/[xy]/g, c => {\n const r = Math.random() * 16 | 0; // eslint-disable-line no-bitwise\n const v = c === 'x' ? r : (r & 0x3 | 0x8); // eslint-disable-line no-bitwise\n return v.toString(16);\n });\n }\n };\n \n const tryGetIds = (storedProfile) => {\n const profile = JSON.parse(storedProfile);\n const {\n 'https://insider/token': storedToken,\n 'https://insider/subscriptionId': subscriptionId,\n 'https://insider/memberId': insiderId\n } = profile;\n const token = parseJwt(storedToken);\n return {\n pianoId: token.sub,\n subscriptionId,\n insiderId\n }\n }\n \n const dataLayer = {\"pageType\":\"post\",\"postID\":\"6171c631adb1a64e28648f59\",\"postURI\":\"ghostbusters-afterliife-jason-reitman-interview-2021-10\",\"publisher\":\"\",\"editor\":\"Tom Murray\",\"vertical\":\"entertainment\",\"author\":\"Jason Guerrasio\",\"category\":\"Movies|Jason Reitman|Ghostbusters Afterlife|Ivan Reitman|Ghostbusters|BI Graphics|Marianne Ayala\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-19\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-19\",\"createUser\":\"Jason Guerrasio\",\"wordCount\":2027,\"abTest\":\"|napi:c|pb_5:holdout|pcss:c|exes2:c|short:c|\",\"secondaryVerticals\":\"\",\"paywallState\":\"dynamic\",\"theme\":\"exceptional_storytelling\"};\n \n if (window.Fenrir.config.identifier === 'bi') {\n dataLayer.sophi_testId = 'pw:article:test1_ab';\n dataLayer.userAgent = window.navigator.userAgent;\n dataLayer.timeZone = Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone;\n \n dataLayer.sophi_testGroup = 'holdout'\n }\n \n const storedProfile = localStorage.getItem('profile');\n if (storedProfile) {\n const { pianoId, subscriptionId, insiderId } = tryGetIds(storedProfile);\n if (pianoId) {\n dataLayer.pianoId = pianoId;\n }\n if (subscriptionId) {\n dataLayer.subscriptionId = subscriptionId;\n }\n if (insiderId) {\n dataLayer.insiderId = insiderId;\n }\n }\n \n const universalId = localStorage.getItem('universal_id');\n \n if(!universalId) {\n var newUniversalId = uuid();\n localStorage.setItem('universal_id', newUniversalId);\n dataLayer.universalId = newUniversalId;\n } else {\n dataLayer.universalId = universalId;\n }\n \n window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];\n window.dataLayer.push(dataLayer);\n })()\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n \n\n \n\n\n\n\n
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    'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' director Jason Reitman used his 'complicated' relationship with his father to take on the franchise he's avoided his whole life

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    \n \n \n \n \n \n \n "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" director Jason Reitman.\n \n \n \n Sony; Stefanie Keenan/Getty; Marianne Ayala/Insider\n \n \n \n \n \n\n
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    It was an overwhelming sight. Surrounding Jason Reitman were dozens of screenwriters, storyboards, and artwork for a franchise he's known intimately his entire life. 

    No, we're not talking about \"Ghostbusters.\"

    Years before Reitman decided to finally follow in his father's footsteps and direct a \"Ghostbusters\" movie, he was invited by Michael Bay to work on another blockbuster franchise  \u2014 \"Transformers.\"

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    Reitman had a giant smile on his face as he recounted via Zoom his very brief time in the Transformers universe, eventually working on scripts (specifically punching up the dialogue) for \"Dark of the Moon\" and \"Age of Extinction.\" By the end of his story, he drove home the point: Filmmakers are allowed to do things beyond what they are known for.

    \"It's very easy to look at a director and their work and think this is the sum total of that human being,\" he told Insider back in September. \"The truth is I love horror films. I love big box office movies. To play in that 'Transformers' world was like, I used to play with Transformers now I get to play in 'Transformers.'\"

    Now Reitman is taking that thinking a step further with his latest movie, \"Ghostbusters: Afterlife,\" in theaters November 19, the latest sequel in the franchise that his father, Ivan Reitman, launched. In 1984, \"Ghostbusters\" became a runaway hit and made the foursome \u2014 Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson \u2014 battling evil spirits around New York City household names.

    Reitman, who's built a career making Oscar-nominated dramas like \"Juno\" and \"Up in the Air,\" is well aware of his connection to the movie, which seems to haunt him almost like a ghost.

    \"I don't go a day in my life without seeing someone wearing a 'Ghostbusters' T-shirt,\" he noted.

    For most of his life, the 44-year-old director has chosen to ignore his father's movie-making legacy \u2014 vowing never to make a \"Ghostbusters\" movie. But all that's changed now.

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    \n Jason Reitman (center) on the set of \"Ghostbusters: Afterlife.\"\n
    \n \n \n \n Kimberley French/Sony\n \n \n     \n

    Reitman wrote the 'Ghostbusters: Aftermath' script in secret and only let executives read it one at a time inside a secured room

    Reitman's change of heart began with the idea of a girl in a cornfield, wearing a proton pack.

    \"A decade ago, I had this vision of a girl shooting a proton pack in a cornfield and suddenly popcorn flying up and her catching and eating it,\" Reitman said with a far off look in his eye as he sipped on his morning coffee inside his home office. The sun shined in from his backyard window beside his desk. 

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    \"It was just one of those images where I was like, 'Well, I don't know what to do with that,'\" he continued.

    Reitman is the first to admit that he usually doesn't embrace these types of ideas. His movies, up to this point, have been grounded in reality. He's preferred the independently-financed dramas that explore the human condition and usually feature women going through challenging times in their lives like a teenaged pregnancy (\"Juno\") or a mid-life crisis (\"Tully\"). 

    He's always had the same answer when asked if he'll ever make a \"Ghostbusters\" movie: \"No.\"

    \"I would make the most boring 'Ghostbusters' movie,'\" he told Howard Stern back in 2008. \"It would just be people talking about ghosts. There wouldn't be any ghost-busting in it.\"

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    \n \n \n \"Mckenna\n
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    \n Mckenna Grace using a proton pack in \"Ghostbusters: Afterlife.\"\n
    \n \n \n \n Sony\n \n \n     \n

    But this idea of a girl wearing a proton pack in a cornfield was special. He couldn't kick it.

    \"I suddenly knew who the girl was when Harold died\" in 2014, he said, referring to Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the original \"Ghostbusters\" screenplay with Dan Aykroyd and played Ghostbuster Egon Spengler in the movie.

    He began evolving the idea into a story and it finally got to a point where he couldn't keep it to himself anymore. He had to tell someone \u2014 his father.

    \"He said, 'I've been thinking about this idea,'\" Ivan Reitman recalled to Insider about the first time his son spoke to him about doing a \"Ghostbusters\" movie. \"I just stayed really quiet. I was excited, but surprised as well.\"

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    Reitman then teamed up with screenwriter Gil Kenan to write the script. By 2016, the two were pitching it to Sony's Ghost Corps, the production company formed to oversee the \"Ghostbusters\" franchise.

    The pitch meeting ended with Reitman's dad in tears, the project greenlit, and the promise that Reitman could work on the project in secret.

    \"I think only three people at Sony knew of its existence,\" Reitman said of the script. \"Each executive had to come by themselves to Ghost Corps and read the script in a room and then leave.\"

    \"I really didn't want it out there that we were writing this movie,\" he continued. \"Particularly after years of me saying I didn't want to make a 'Ghostbusters' movie.\"

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    \n \n \n \"Jason\n
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    \n (L-R) Jason Reitman and Ivan Reitman at the 2021 New York Comic Con.\n
    \n \n \n \n Craig Barritt/Getty\n \n \n     \n

    Reitman used his own issues with his father to flesh out the family dynamic in the movie

    One of Reitman's fondest memories as a kid was going to the set of \"Ghostbusters\" back in the 1983. Side-by-side with his dad, he watched in awe as his father directed. It was an eye-opening experience for the young Reitman; a glimpse behind the curtain of how all those movies he went to see with his dad were pulled off.

    Reitman even found himself in his father's movies, having bit parts in \"Twins\" (1988), \"Ghostbusters II\" (1989), and \"Kindergarten Cop\" (1990). 

    But as the younger Reitman got older, he distanced himself from Hollywood. At Skidmore College he studied to be a therapist. When that didn't pan out, he pivoted to creative writing at University of Southern California. He began making movies, but not the kind his dad made.

    \"He went on quite a different career path than I did,\" Ivan, who also directed the 1989 \"Ghostbusters\" sequel, said. \"I sort of had a very commercial bent and wanted to entertain in my own way, and I was comfortable in the studio system. He was working independently and was doing it very effectively.\"

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    Despite clearly carving his own career path and even scoring best director nominations for both \"Juno\" and \"Up in the Air,\" Reitman said his father would still ask him on occasion if he would ever make a \"Ghostbusters\" movie.

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    \n \n \n \"Harold\n
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    \n (L-R) Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, and Dan Aykroyd in 1984's \"Ghostbusters.\"\n
    \n \n \n \n Sony\n \n \n     \n

    \"I never thought he was going to do it,\" his dad admitted.

    But Reitman couldn't shake his \"Ghostbusters: Afterlife\" story. Set far away from the \"Ghostbusters\" firehouse in New York City, the \"Afterlife\" story follows a single mother (Carrie Coon) and her two children (Mckenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard) as they move to their late grandfather's broken down home in Oklahoma.

    As they try to adjust to their new lives, they realize that not only was their grandfather one of the original Ghostbusters, but they have to pick up where he left off, defending the world from evil supernatural forces who are on the cusp of taking over.

    The movie has its laughs and many hat tips to the original movie (including Elmer Bernstein's memorable score from the 1984 movie), but it's surprisingly moving with its Spielbergian look at a group of young friends teaming up to save the day. Don't be surprised if you shed a tear or two by the end of it.

    For Reitman, that feeling comes from putting himself into the characters.

    \"It became a metaphor for my own fears about picking up the proton pack myself,\" Reitman said of making the movie.

    \n \n \n \n
    \n \n \n \"Jason\n
    \n \n \n
    \n Jason Reitman shooting mini Stay Puft Marshmallow men in \"Ghostbusters: Afterlife.\"\n
    \n \n \n \n Sony\n \n \n     \n

    \n \n But Reitman went deeper than that: He put a lot of his abandonment issues, from having a father who was an in-demand Hollywood director for most of his childhood, into the role of Callie, the single mother, who feels her father never gave her much attention, as he was too caught up in ghostbusting. 

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    \"Look, being the son of a director is complicated,\" Reitman said. \"Being the son of someone who is obsessed with their work; I think about that with my relationship with my father.\"

    Ivan, however, admitted he didn't see that real-life correlation in the movie, when asked. 

    \"I'm too arrogant and too close up to my own sort of world, I think,\" he said. \"Though I understand that.\"

    While writing the movie, Reitman said he also thought a lot about how his daughter Josie grew up the same way he did \u2014 with a father busy making movies. And on top of that, Josie is a child of divorce, as Reitman and writer Michele Lee split in 2014.

    \"Every filmmaker is doing autobiographical work no matter what they are doing,\" he added. \"I made this movie for my dad. I made this movie for my daughter. I think it mirrors the ways that we want to be connected to each other.\"

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    \n Jason Reitman.\n
    \n \n \n \n Kimberley French/Sony\n \n \n     \n

    Reitman says Paul Feig's 'Ghostbusters' opened the door for his movie: 'Paul really did the hard work'

    Reitman never thought he could get personal with a \"Ghostbusters\" movie, but it ended up being the most personal work he's ever done, he said.

    Along with the family inspirations that fueled the script, Reitman and his dad, a producer on the movie, worked side-by-side on \"Afterlife.\" Close to 40 years after young Reitman was on the set of his dad's \"Ghostbusters\" movie, he was now directing his own with his proud father looking on \u2014 and making the occasional note at times. Well, maybe more than occasional.

    \"Sometimes it got complicated, as you can imagine with your father coming to work with you every day and weighing in on all your decisions,\" Reitman said. \"It tries on your patience, but at the same time we got to have a father-son experience unlike anything.\"

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    \"Most fathers and sons feel lucky they went camping together,\" Reitman added. \"We got to make a movie together.\"

    \"Afterlife\" is a movie that Reitman said wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the franchise movies his dad made along with the 2016 Paul Feig-directed all-female \"Ghostbusters\" movie.

    Though Feig's underperformed at the box office and felt the wrath of internet trolls who were appalled that their beloved franchise would get an all-female version, Reitman said it opened the door for his story to be told, and he hopes for different kinds of \"Ghostbuster\" movies in the future.

    \n \n \n \n
    \n \n \n \"Leslie\n
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    \n (L-R) Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, director Paul Feig, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon on the set of 2016's \"Ghostbusters.\"\n
    \n \n \n \n Sony\n \n \n     \n

    \"When Paul made his movie, he kind of broke the doors open,\" Reitman said. \"Suddenly a 'Ghostbusters' film did not have to be about those four original guys in Manhattan. That was a big moment.\"

    \"I want to see all kinds of 'Ghostbusters' movies,\" he continued. \"I want to see 'Ghostbusters' movies from all my favorite filmmakers, coming from all kinds of different cultures and different countries. Paul really did the hard work so that I could make this movie.\"

    And the result is a movie that's already been generating a lot of buzz. Both Reitman and his father have been present at two surprise screenings, at this year's CinemaCon and New York ComicCon, and both audiences were completely enthralled.

    Reitman held back tears when he thought back to attending the CinemaCon screening with his father in Las Vegas in August.

    \"We walked backstage after the screening and it was really dark, they were using flashlights to guide us, and my dad stopped everyone and he pulled me into a hug and he was very emotional and he said, 'I'm just so proud to be your father,'\" Reitman said as his eyes began to well up.

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    \n \n \n \"Jason\n
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    \n (L-R) Jason Reitman and his dad Ivan Reitman at 2021 CinemaCon.\n
    \n \n \n \n David Becker/Getty\n \n \n     \n

    It's a Hollywood ending for a director who never wanted to make a \"Ghostbusters\" movie ever in his life. But could it have been more fear that was holding him back from helming a franchise that's been part of him since he was old enough to walk?

    There was a long pause as he took in that question. It's clear this was one he himself had been trying to answer for years.

    \"I always felt this was the dragon that was waiting for me, and that the longer I didn't make it, the more I was simply ignoring what was at the gate,\" he finally said.

    \"I always felt the proton pack would be too heavy, but it turns out once you put it on it feels kind of light.\"

     

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    \n\n\n", + "page_last_modified": " Fri, 19 Nov 2021 13:07:30 GMT" + }, + { + "page_name": "Jason Reitman: 'Growing up sucks, doesn't it?' | Young Adult | ...", + "page_url": "https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jan/19/jason-reitman-young-adult", + "page_snippet": "Interview: The director of Juno and Up in the Air tells Catherine Shoard why his latest film, Young Adult, about an alcoholic, embittered ghostwriter, is far darker than his previous moviesAesthetically, too, Young Adult is cleaner than what he's shot before, yet more deferential to the star and the screenplay (his programme of lo-fi live, classic script readings in LA suggests his priorities increasingly lie on the page). Gone are the splashy credits, the slick celluloid. Young Adult is his Election; but while Alexander Payne looks to have got gummier of late, Reitman has been sharpening his teeth (for the record, he has some of the strongest-looking all-Canadian dentistry you'll ever see). Jason Reitman knows he needs to work on his drinking problem. Specifically: develop one. It's a long road ahead. He was an abstemious teen, an undebauched student. At 34, he's yet to try a gin and tonic \u2013 \"two things I haven't been able to get my mouth around\" \u2013 but thinks he maybe should. Partly on account of Young Adult being Reitman's and Diablo Cody's follow-up to Juno, a much sweeter comedy adored by press and public (Fox Searchlight must have been chuffed, too, with the $231m return on a $7m budget). Those expecting a reprise have been surprised by the little vial of cyanide in their orange tic-tacs \u2013 good and tart, but an acquired taste. One test screening card for Young Adult bore the comment: \"I don't know why Jason Reitman wants me to feel like this.\" Youngish adult ... Jason Reitman Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian \u00b7 Youngish adult ... Jason Reitman Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian", + "page_result": "\n \n \n\t\t\t \n\n\t\t\t\t\n\n Jason Reitman: 'Growing up sucks, doesn't it?' | Young Adult | The Guardian\n \n\t\t\t\t\n \n\t\t\t\t\n \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n \n\n \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n \n \n\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n \n\t\t\t\t\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
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    The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian
    \"Jason
    Youngish adult ... Jason Reitman Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian
    Youngish adult ... Jason Reitman Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian
    This article is more than 12 years old
    Interview

    Jason Reitman: 'Growing up sucks, doesn't it?'

    This article is more than 12 years old
    Catherine Shoard
    The director of Juno and Up in the Air tells Catherine Shoard why his latest film, Young Adult, about an alcoholic, embittered ghostwriter, is far darker than his previous movies

    Jason Reitman knows he needs to work on his drinking problem. Specifically: develop one. It's a long road ahead. He was an abstemious teen, an undebauched student. At 34, he's yet to try a gin and tonic \u2013 "two things I haven't been able to get my mouth around" \u2013 but thinks he maybe should. "I'm a total cliche \u2013 the compensating for growing up a rich kid in Beverly Hills, the compensating for being the son of a famous director [Ghostbusters' Ivan]. The one break is I don't have an alcohol or drug addiction. Then I would be the complete picture. And I think it's beautiful that we're all cliches, I really do."

    He's been making progress. "Three years ago, I started drinking, and I tried pot for the first time two years ago. And\u00a0then I found scotch and I was like: wow. This is so lovely." He leans back: game, playful, perhaps a touch jetlag mad, in London just before Christmas. "The feeling is so lovely. I like that it has a weight to it. Rather than vodka which kinda attacks with a hammer."

    There's a certain inevitability to the way Reitman \u2013 four Oscar nominations by 32 \u2013 skipped the kiddier end of the wine list and went straight for the tough stuff. Since his whisky epiphany, he's tried ryes, got into Maccallan and Oban, Laphroaig and Talisker ("the roughest thing I've tried; really peppery"). Like a curry? "Oh, I can't eat curry.\u00a0But maybe that'll come next. I finally found an Indian food I liked: butter chicken."

    Statements like that give one pause for thought as to Reitman's ultimate potential as a hell-raiser. But the lead in his latest movie, Young Adult, is nothing if not a convincing drinker.

    \"Young
    Patton Oswalt and Charlize Theron in Young Adult

    Mavis Geary (Charlize Theron) is a teen-fiction hack who drowns daily hangovers in Diet Coke straight from the two-litre bottle. From her 4 Non Blondes mix tape to her Hello Kitty nightie, she's stuck in a mid-90s loop,\u00a0 when she ruled supreme as prom queen in small-town Minnesota. And it's there that she returns from a sterile, semi-successful life in the city, in the hope of winning back a former sweetheart, Buddy (Patrick Wilson) \u2013 now happily married with a baby. It's surely a doomed mission: Mavis is a mess, vile even to her one ally (Patton Oswalt's mordant Matt). She's a writer who can't read people, who chucks herself confidently into situations then thinks that the ensuing gasps are of admiration. And it's this perverse courage, the fruit-loop naivete, that means you find you like her.

    Young Adult is a conscious jump into the dark from a man who knows his career can cope with a little lukewarm box office. After three films that established a career (Thank You For Smoking in 2005, Juno in 2007 and 2009's Up in the Air), this one, he calculated, could "service art and art alone". The sales strategy followed suit \u2013 no festival circuit, but drip-fed to fans with pop-up screenings and bespoke posters. It's a sharp move: Young Adult repays percolation. Its pessimism and humanity mushroom long after a final act that slaps out three scenes of increasing unease, then refuses to deliver redemption, even after self-realisation.

    "If Mavis became a different person people would just watch the movie and go: that's right, people become better people and I'm gonna continue becoming a better person and life goes on and that's great. Hopefully that's so jarring that the audience feels it for the days after, and maybe it becomes a moment that acts as a mirror and reveals something about their own character."

    \"Juno\"
    Ellen Page and Olivia Thirby in Juno

    Some have been duly unsettled. Partly on account of Young Adult being Reitman's and Diablo Cody's follow-up to Juno, a much sweeter comedy adored by press and public (Fox Searchlight must have been chuffed, too, with the $231m return on a $7m budget). Those expecting a reprise have been surprised by the little vial of cyanide in their orange tic-tacs \u2013\u00a0good and tart, but an acquired taste. One test screening card for Young Adult bore the comment: "I don't know why Jason Reitman wants me to feel like this."

    Does he ever fret he's gone too far? No \u2013 he loved that card. "I'm not worried that my film is gonna have some negative effect on people's lives. With the amount of noise out there you can only hope to cut through so much."

    Plus, it's this sort of manoeuvre that gets him going. "What interests me is getting the audience to feel something very specific, usually for a moment. You do a magician's trick convincing them into the rhythms of a movie they're used to, only to twist them at the right moment."

    Aesthetically, too, Young Adult is cleaner than what he's shot before, yet more deferential to the star and the screenplay (his programme of lo-fi live, classic script readings in LA suggests his priorities increasingly lie on the page). Gone are the splashy credits, the slick celluloid.

    Young Adult is his Election; but while Alexander Payne looks to have got gummier of late, Reitman has been sharpening his teeth (for the record, he has some of the strongest-looking all-Canadian dentistry you'll ever see).

    Born in 1977, he was raised on soundstages and edit suites, taken on the Animal House set at 10 days' old. There were bit-parts in front of camera \u2013 Wrong Kid in Alley in Father's Day, Kissing Boy in Kindergarten Cop (the clinch was cut short by Arnie with a machine gun). But he hesitated about signing on for the family trade \u2013 his mother, Genevi\u00e8ve Robert, is an actor \u2013 until a pep talk from his dad convinced him. (It's an exchange that echoed another conversation his father had, back in the 60s, with his own father, who wanted to steer him away from a career in sandwiches.) \u00a0

    So, Reitman switched from medicine to English at university, shot shorts, including an especially successful one, Consent, about pre-sex red tape, co-written by his then wife, Michele Lee (they had a daughter, Josephine, in 2007, before separating last year). Out of college, commercial work paid the bills and stoked the artistic ambition. He twice turned down the chance to direct Dude, Where's My Car?, instead optioning Christopher Buckley's Thank You for Smoking. After that: Juno, then Up in the Air, another macho satire Reitman adapted himself (this time from the novel by Walter Kim).

    \"UP
    George Clooney in Up in the Air

    Though none came with the sting of Young Adult, all three chucked curveballs with their feet in the mainstream. Smoking fogged your politics, Juno flipped expectations, Air ended in romantic bathos. All worried at the compatibility of happiness and domesticity.

    Next is Labor Day, his own script of Joyce Maynard's bestseller about a single mother (Kate Winslet) who takes in an outlaw (Josh Brolin). A female lead, then, but no Cody. And a wider scope: until now, the key has been tone, not plot. "That's why I never know where my characters were before the movie starts or after it ends \u2013 it doesn't even interest me." Labor Day is different. "I'm not scared of doing drama. What scares me is that it's dramatised. It plays like a classic novel \u2013 it takes place over four decades, it needs to be more stylish in the way that it's shot. We'll see if I'm capable."

    For Reitman, film-making is part self-test, part internal inventory. "I'm trying to figure myself out through my movies. Whether it's big stuff like what we're doing here, or little stuff like why aren't I happier?\u00a0With every film I feel like I'm apologising for something. I feel I'm most successful when I'm looking for something that embarrasses me about my character that I'd like to expose."

    The list, when pressed for, is long. "Selfishness, narcissism, being uncomfortable in your own skin, not feeling connected to the world around you, feeling dislocated from family and youth, having a strange relationship with your childhood \u2013 all those things feel really true to me."

    Reitman feels a curious mix of ages. His voice fluxes between chewy drawl and vaguely nasal. He seems naturally happy, is good company, but with a bounce that could, you sense, be burst by external circumstance. White as well as black hair sprouts from beneath his beanie. That hat bears witness, he says, to his own development being as arrested as the rest of his age-group's. But he's wise to the possible contradiction. "Doesn't every generation feel like the one that's coming up behind them doesn't know how to grow up? I'm not sure if we're progressively getting worse or if your perspective shifts."

    Presumably becoming a father jump-starts maturity? "I guess you can only feel responsible for something you can't walk away from, and you can never walk away from being a parent. But where once people felt they really couldn't walk away from marriage \u2013 and I say this as someone who is divorced, so I'm not exactly proud \u2013 now that it's so pervasive it probably helps to permeate this idea that you don't really need to grow up."

    \"Thank
    Aaron Eckhart in Thank You For Smoking

    Anyhow, he says, "Growing up sucks, doesn't it? I understand why people wouldn't want to get old \u2013 but it'd be one thing if we became a culture obsessed with eating right, doing yoga, going to therapy and becoming at one with ourselves. That be great. But we don't do that. We seem to be obsessed with all the wrong ways to stay young." Why? "I'm just making complete guesses, but maybe because it's a lot easier."

    Does he feel older than his years? "I've a bad heart; I'm probably gonna die young, so perhaps it's just it's the percentage of my life that I've lived so far. I really hope I see my 70s, though most people our age presume 80s are kind of a given and 90s are even probable. I think I have to adjust my lifestyle if I want to live longer."

    More scotch? "That's the key, right?" He beams. "What doctors recommend."

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    \n \n ", + "page_last_modified": "" + }, + { + "page_name": "Young Adult (2011) \u2b50 6.3 | Comedy, Drama", + "page_url": "https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1625346/", + "page_snippet": "Young Adult: Directed by Jason Reitman. With Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser. Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend who is now happily married and has a newborn ...Young Adult: Directed by Jason Reitman. With Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser. Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend who is now happily married and has a newborn daughter. Reitman knows what he's doing. Like all of his other movies, he doesn't try to stuff you up with heavy emotions. Even the most melodramatic events would be presented with a light and refreshing approach in his movies. That's where his vision stands out. And Charlize Theron does a wonderful job supplementing Jason Reitman's vision. 'Young Adult' is the fourth feature of Jason Reitman, whose movies have always had a refreshing indie feel. When I look back to his filmography, I think they all have these protagonists who are in process of self- discovery. Over the course of events, they found the new one/lost one of themselves. Like I said, it ends with a self-discovery. Reitman knows what he's doing. Like all of his other movies, he doesn't try to stuff you up with heavy emotions. Even the most melodramatic events would be presented with a light and refreshing approach in his movies.", + "page_result": "Young Adult (2011) - IMDb
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    IMDbPro

    Young Adult

    IMDb RATING
    6.3/10
    88K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    3,548
    1,108
    \"Charlize
    \"A
    Play trailer2:00
    20 Videos
    99+ Photos
    ComedyDrama

    Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend who is now happily married and has a newborn daughte... Read allSoon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend who is now happily married and has a newborn daughter.Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her home in small-town Minnesota, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend who is now happily married and has a newborn daughter.

    • IMDb RATING
    6.3/10
    88K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    3,548
    1,108
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    Videos20

    \"No.
    Trailer 2:00
    Watch No. 1
    \""Bookstore"\"
    Clip 1:16
    Watch "Bookstore"
    \""Looking
    Clip 0:53
    Watch "Looking for a Dress"
    \""Adorable"\"
    Clip 0:50
    Watch "Adorable"
    \""Wedding
    Clip 1:03
    Watch "Wedding Photo"
    \""Reunion"\"
    Clip 0:31
    Watch "Reunion"
    \""Macy's"\"
    Clip 0:30
    Watch "Macy's"
    \""Is
    Clip 0:30
    Watch "Is That a Dog in Your Bag?"
    \"Young
    Clip 0:56
    Watch Young Adult: Do I Know You?
    \"Young
    Clip 1:03
    Watch Young Adult: Wedding Photo
    \"Young
    Clip 1:17
    Watch Young Adult: Bookstore
    \"Young
    Clip 0:49
    Watch Young Adult: Checking In

    Photos133

    \"Charlize
    \"Jenny
    \"Charlize
    \"Patrick
    \"Charlize
    \"Charlize
    \"Patton
    \"Charlize
    \"Jason
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    \"Charlize
    \"Charlize
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    Top cast

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    \"Charlize
    Charlize Theron
    \"Patrick
    Patrick Wilson
    \"Patton
    Patton Oswalt
    \"Elizabeth
    Elizabeth Reaser
    \"Collette
    Collette Wolfe
    \"Jill
    Jill Eikenberry
    \"Richard
    Richard Bekins
    \"Mary
    Mary Beth Hurt
    \"Kate
    Kate Nowlin
    \"Jenny
    Jenny Dare Paulin
    \"Rebecca
    Rebecca Hart
    \"Louisa
    Louisa Krause
    \"Elizabeth
    Elizabeth Ward Land
    \"Brian
    Brian McElhaney
    \"Hettienne
    Hettienne Park
    \"John
    John Forest
    \"Rightor
    Rightor Doyle
    \"Brady
    Brady Smith

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    5.8
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    7.3
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    \"Paradise\"
    5.0
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    \"Trainwreck\"
    6.2
    Trainwreck
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    6.0
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    \"Sunshine
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    5.9
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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      The word processor file in which Mavis composes her novel throughout the film is titled "pieceofshit.doc".
    • Goofs
      When Charlize Theron is sitting in KFC, the cup says KGC from one angle and then KFC from another. While thought to be a mistake, the cup reads "KGC" because for a short while, Kentucky Fried Chicken tried to rebrand itself as Kentucky Grilled Chicken, offering a healthier option to their original fried chicken. The cup bears the new, short-lived KGC logo.
    • Quotes

      Mavis Gary: Hey, do you know this girl named Beth? She married Buddy Slade from school.

      Sandra Freehauf: Yeah, I know that Beth.

      Mavis Gary: What do you think of her?

      Sandra Freehauf: I don't really like her. I mean, I think you're way prettier than she is. What happened to your dress? I'm sorry, did I say something wrong? Shit. What's wrong? What did I say?

      Mavis Gary: I have a lot of problems.

      Sandra Freehauf: Can't you get a new dress?

      Mavis Gary: It's really difficult for me to be happy. And then for other people it just seems so simple. I know. They just grow up and they're so fulfilled.

      Sandra Freehauf: I don't feel fulfilled. And frankly, if you don't feel fulfilled with all the stuff that you have.

      Mavis Gary: I need to change, Sandra.

      Sandra Freehauf: No you don't.

      Mavis Gary: What?

      Sandra Freehauf: You're the only person in Mercury who could write a book or wear a dress like that.

      Mavis Gary: I'm sure there's plenty of other people who could.

      Sandra Freehauf: Everyone here is fat and dumb.

      Mavis Gary: Don't say that. I mean, you think so?

      Sandra Freehauf: Everyone wishes that they could be like you. You know, living in the big city all famous and beautiful and all that.

      Mavis Gary: I'm not really famous.

      Sandra Freehauf: Well, you know, special or whatever. I mean, some days when I have a slow shift at work I'll sit and think about you living in your cool apartment, going out and stuff. It seems really nice.

      Mavis Gary: Yeah, but most people here seem so happy with so little. It's like they don't even seem to care what happens to them.

      Sandra Freehauf: That's because it doesn't matter what happens to them. They're nothing. Might as well die. Fuck Mercury.

    User reviews284

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Theron Delivers the Goods as the Unrepentant Queen of Small-Town Mean
    Without an iota of irony, Charlize Theron finally uses her intimidating beauty for pure Machiavellian evil, and the results are fortuitous in this dark-hued 2011 comedy, the latest collaboration of director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody ("Juno"). She's absolutely spot-on terrific playing Mavis Gary, the condescending, hateful high school girl who comes back to Mercury, her podunk hometown nearly two decades later. Mavis is no Blanche Dubois-type character whose ladylike beauty has faded into a gauzy romantic delusion. No, Mavis is still one hot babe and very much the complete narcissist she was as a teenager, emotionally stunted despite her relative worldliness having moved to Minneapolis to become a ghostwriter of a series of teen novels.

    It's not surprising she finds success writing for an adolescent audience since she still defines her life with teenage-level priorities and fantasies. As she has proved with "Juno", Cody is thoroughly fluent with this perspective, but the twist is that this time, it's coming from a jaded 37-year-old woman. Even though Mavis is a divorc\u00e9e who lives in a high-rise apartment with a toy dog and can easily get any man she wants, she is triggered by a birth announcement email she receives from her high school sweetheart Buddy Slade and becomes fixated on getting him back all these years later. It doesn't matter that he's happily married and perfectly content living in Mercury. She concocts a scheme to make herself so alluring that he will want to run away with her. Normally, this would be an excuse for broad comedy machinations, but Theron is so gorgeous that it makes her shameless attempts at seduction all the more edgily desperate.

    It's a narrowly developed plot for sure, but surprisingly, what enriches the proceedings is the unexpected relationship Mavis develops with Matt Freehauf, a sad-sack former classmate whose sole claim to notoriety was being the victim of a hate crime when he was beaten up and left for dead by a group of jocks who assumed he was gay. He has been left crippled, living in Mercury with his sister making his own home-brewed bourbon and putting together mix-and-match action figures. That Mavis and Matt connect is all the more intriguing since they were at opposite ends of the social spectrum back in school, and their present-day bond is also fueled by her obvious alcoholism, a point that is overlooked by her befuddled parents who wish to think of Mavis as the flawless pretty daughter of their own deluded fantasies. The story evolves in the direction you would expect but not before certain revelations come to light in a tortuous scene at the baby-naming party Buddy and his sensible wife Beth have with all their relatives and close friends in attendance.

    Beyond Theron's fearless work and intentionally deadpan line delivery, there is comedian Patton Oswalt's surprisingly affecting performance as Matt. I only know him from his recurring role as a comical sad-sack on the sitcom "King of Queens", so it's surprising to see the amount of texture he brings to this role. As Buddy, Patrick Wilson once again plays the sought-after himbo, but this time, his character's unshaven, small-town modesty comes across as more contrite with his character's feelings toward Mavis left quite elliptical. Elizabeth Reaser ("Sweet Land") isn't given that much to do as Beth, probably by intention, but Collette Wolf has a few impactful moments as Matt's insulated sister still idolizing Mavis after all these years. As he showed with "Juno" and "Up in the Air", Reitman shows a deft hand with actors playing flawed characters who try to manipulate their circumstances but fall short of their vaunted expectations.
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    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $12,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $16,311,571
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $310,263
      • Dec 11, 2011
    • Gross worldwide
      • $22,939,027

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