Young Adult ***

A telling portrait of a "psycho prom queen bitch," in the words of a former classmate, "Young Adult" shows what happens when ghostwriter Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) decides to return to her home town and win back her now-married ex-boyfriend, Buddy (Patrick Wilson). The bad choices this now 37 year old have made become clear and old connections and histories reappear. While not autobiographical, there is surely a good deal of closely-observed real life in Oscar-winner Diablo Cody's screenplay. Mavis writes the sequels to another, more famous author's original work for "young adults," which is marketing code for high school girls. Mavis, it seems, has never left that phase, and the quest she embarks on has only the slightest chance of helping her grow up. Director Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air") once again captures a slice of Americana, here of high school culture, fast food lifestyle, alienation, and unexamined lives. Illuminated by a stunning, fearless performance by Theron, "Young Adult" is a humorous, fine, serious drama.