Metacritic Movie Ratings
Young Adult Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 91

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum

  Young Adult bumps along with nasty swerves, middle finger proudly in the air, toward an ending blessedly free of anything warm, fuzzy, or optimistic. Now that's adult entertainment.

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• 90

  out of 100

  The New York TimesA.O. Scott

  Shorter than a bad blind date and as sour as a vinegar Popsicle, Young Adult shrouds its brilliant, brave and breathtakingly cynical heart in the superficial blandness of commercial comedy.

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• 90

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey

  When it's done right, as it is in Young Adult, there is something absolutely mesmerizing about watching a train wreck unfold on screen. When the wreck in question is a narcissistic beauty played to scheming, sour, downward-spiraling perfection by Charlize Theron, cringing is definitely called for, but so is laughter.

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• 90

  out of 100

  Variety

  Reteaming pop-savvy scribe Diablo Cody with "Juno" director Jason Reitman, Young Adult revels in breaking the rules of safe Hollywood storytelling.

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• 88

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  Patton Oswalt is, in a way, the key to the film's success. Theron is flawless at playing a cringe-inducing monster and Wilson touching as a nice guy who hates to offend her, but the audience needs a point of entry, a character we can identify with, and Oswalt's Matt is human, realistic, sardonic and self-deprecating. He speaks truth to Mavis.

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• 80

  out of 100

  Village VoiceJ. Hoberman

  Young Adult might be brushed off as curdled rom-com were it not for two things. The first is the depth of Theron's performance...The second, less predictable aspect is the utter absence of the corny rehabilitation found in "Juno" and Reitman's glib, downsizing dramedy "Up in the Air."

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• 70

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthy

  Their scenes together are the film's best, with Theron and Oswalt, who have very different tempi and temperatures as performers, parrying and thrusting with great expertise.

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• 63

  out of 100

  ReelViewsJames Berardinelli

  For most of the movie, Cody and Reitman jape at her until, in the last 20 minutes or so, they attempt to turn her into an object of sympathy. It doesn't work and, on balance, neither does Young Adult.

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• 63

  out of 100

  USA TodayClaudia Puig

  While on sardonic turf, it's scathingly funny. Then it veers from biting wit to pitiful. At one juncture, the story threatens to spin off into "Fatal Attraction" territory.

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• 63

  out of 100

  Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips

  Cody would likely acknowledge she's working through her own contradictory feelings toward her protagonist - and that she may have been a draft or two away from shaping those feelings into a terrific black comedy, rather than a pretty interesting one.

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See all Young Adult movie reviews at Metacritic.com