You know it's not going to go well at the sight of Mavis in her low-cut black evening dress hilariously typing drivel into her BlackBerry in an attempt to look busy before meeting a casually plaid clad Buddy (Patrick Wilson). Buddy is a suburban dad with teething rings and bouncy swings on his mind, not romantic reunions with his long forgotten high school girlfriend. This former prom king has settled into his role as a responsible husband and father and you never get the sense he shares Mavis's nostalgia for the good old days. His charmingly attractive jockish blandness conveys an embrace of adulthood which is outside of Mavis's grasp.
Mavis strikes an unlikely friendship with former classmate and loveable geek Matt (Patton Oswalt) during her extended stay in Mercury. Matt, the victim of a hate crime back in high school which left him lame and gave him an excuse to play it safe for the rest of his life, tries to unsuccessfully advise Mavis to move on from the happily married Buddy. Twenty years ago Mavis and Matt existed at the far extremes of the adolescent social pecking order with men like Matt “born loving” women like Mavis- beautiful, smart, intimidating, slightly psychotic and secretly insecure. Now a teasing sibling-esque friendship is struck with Matt as the smart confidante and drinking buddy whose advice Mavis has no intention of abiding.
Mavis by outward appearances is successful: attractive, the author of a tween book series (albeit as a ghost writer), living in the big city which merits the awe of at least some of Mercury’s residents who never left town like Matt’s sister Sandra (a memorable Collette Wolfe). Mavis exists between the contrasts of impeccably dolling herself up for one night stands and “dates” with Buddy and shuffling along with sarcastic condescending disdain while clad in sweats and Hello Kitty t-shirts. Dressing for the adoration of others masks this emotionally immature woman who suffers from trichotillomania and stretches the outer limits of social drinking.
Mavis's wine stained histrionics before Buddy and his wife Beth (an excellent Elizabeth Reaser) are cringe-inducing. Mavis has spent so long getting what she wants based on supposed superiority, appearances and selfish entitlement that she has deluded herself into an emotionally stunted existence oblivious to obvious rejection. The stereotype of the single thirty-something urbanite- unhappy, childless, untethered and the married suburbanite- settled in parenthood and homeownership with an unglamorous but stable lifestyle is realized. Young Adult is uncompromising, richly detailed, darkly humorous, genuine and squirm inducing. It would be easy to call Mavis a bitch or pathetic but dig deeper and you may recognize yourself or someone from your own high school reunion.
