Young Adult (plus Q&A w- Patton Oswalt, Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman)

Young Adult is the type of tough material that will divide audiences. It is a black comedy in the truest sense. But Diablo Cody does something that really helps the situation. She wrote a character that we can relate to during the movie. That person is Patton Oswalt's character "Matt Freehauf". He spends the majority of the movie pointing out how ridiculous Charlize Theron's character "Mavis Gary" is every moment.

*original poster created for Music Box screening

The plot revolves around a ghost writer for a young adult series. She was the popular girl in school. The kind who can't wait to cast off the shackles of small town MN and head to Minneapolis (Diablo Cody loves the Twin Cities for some reason, but who doesn't). And once she got to the "Minneapple" her life became a state of arrested development. So, she head's home to look up her high school boyfriend. Hilarity ensues.

Diabo, Jason, Patton and Capone from AICN

Patton Oswalt, Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman were on hand for the secret screening at the Music Box. Here are some tidbits I gathered from the Q&A:

• Diablo wrote this while she was also being paid to write a script for "Sweet Valley High" (yep!)
• Patton got involved during some table reads of the script before it had backing
• Jason Reitman called J.K. Simmons and asked him to read his dialog on Jason's answering machine. That's what you hear in the movie, voicemails from J.K.
• The CGI for Patton's crippled leg was just a couple painted dots during his scene. It looks amazing.
• Diablo did this as a writing exercise and most of what was written on the original draft is in the final movie
• ...except originally Charlize's character was not a YA fiction writer...

Did you enjoy it?
Yes

Would you see it in theaters again?
I might take the wife...

Would you buy it?
No

Would you rent it?
Yes

Would you watch it if you saw it was on TV?
Yes