This is a dark comedy starring a truly dysfunctional heroine and is a perfect addition to the litany of Bad Girl movies that have hit our screens this year. As long as you can put up with yet another Pretty Girl befriending yet another Fat Boy, you will be entertained.
Mavis (Charlize Theron) is a writer of young adult fiction, lives in the city with her dog and has recently got divorced. She receives an email from an ex-boyfriend, Buddy (Patrick Wilson), announcing the birth of his new baby daughter but, instead of wishing him well, she decides that this new addition to Buddy’s life is a nail in his coffin and, unless she acts, he will be forever trapped in his suburban existence. Mavis subsequently returns to small town Minnesota and the first person she bumps into is Matt (Patton Oswalt), who remembers her instantly from high school but who she can only vaguely recall. She confides in him her reason for being in town and their alliance is forged.
One of Mavis’ many problems is that she drinks too much and when we first meet her she is suffering from the excesses of the night before. As she stumbles through her slothful morning routine, it soon becomes clear that both she and her dog are in the most incompetent hands; not only is she a physical mess but she’s also ignoring warning signs that her career is in danger of crashing down around her. Such glorious flaws are enough to draw in any audience and make them willing passengers on a journey that they can’t help but worry will lead to disaster, disaster being the denominator that unites us all.
Although flawed works, taking issues to a serious psychological level in a comedy doesn’t and when the writer steps into this dangerous realm, it jolts us right out of the story. Laughing at someone’s glib insensitivity is fine, but laughing at a truly disturbed person is not and it would have worked so much better if Mavis’ delusions could have been played up instead. This would also perhaps have given us some real insights into her bizarre behavior and maybe heightened the comedy that works well when it’s there but is simply not there enough.
No one overcomes their adversaries in this film, but there is a kind of resolution for Matt who actually finds someone who doesn’t mind having sex with him which, for a Movie Fat Boy, is a little like winning the lottery. Mavis is, of course, far too damaged to redeem and as we bid our good-byes, it’s obvious that, whoever she’s with, she will still neglect her poor dog, drink far too many shots and continue to practice her loose definition of hygiene. What a girl.
RELEASE DATES
USA 9 December 2011 (limited)
USA 16 December 2011
Australia 19 January 2012
Lebanon 19 January 2012
Russia 19 January 2012
Sweden 20 January 2012
Brazil 3 February 2012
Ireland 10 February 2012
Spain 10 February 2012
UK 10 February 2012
Denmark 6 February 2012
Netherlands 16 February 2012
Singapore 16 February 2012
Norway 17 February 2012
Germany 23 February 2012
Hong Kong 23 February 2012
Portugal 23 February 2012
France 7 March 2012
Hungary 8 March 2012
Italy 9 March 2012
Turkey 30 March 2012