Movie review - "Young Adult" (2011) ***1/2

Those explaining Chekov to younger audiences could do worse than pointing to this as an example of the Russian's style: funny but not really, sad but not gentle, low key story telling, characters hung up on the past, people in love with others who don't love them back, worries about social status and money. It took me a while to get into Charlize Theron - I thought maybe they could have gotten a more expressive interest - but after a while I got it: she plays it like the school bitch, never asking for sympathy or patting the dog, a scowl on the face. Like her the movie refuses to take sides or offer easy answers: the husband is a drip but happy, his wife seems to be nice but is she, small town life isn't demonised or deified, Theron ignores her parents who don't seem to care that she thinks she's an alcoholic, the little sister who asks to go with her is knocked back. It's a brave Hollywood movie that surely could not have been made without the success of Juno.

Excellent performances, including Patton Oswald in the best role (fat, tormented, funny, geeky) - and pretty much everyone else. A very grown up, mature film about immaturity.