Young Adult Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson
*****
A former small-town beauty with an outwardly glamorous big-city life suffers a midlife meltdown in this witty, acerbic black comedy. Charlize Theron may have won an Oscar for portraying a real-life serial killer in Monster, but rarely has she played such a monstrous anti-heroine as she does in this highly entertaining subversion of Hollywood romcom rules and high-school reunion clichés.
The director Jason Reitman has a strong track record of cynical, state-of-the-nation satires including Thank You for Smoking and Up in the Air. He previously collaborated with the screenwriter Diablo Cody on the 2007 adoption comedy Juno, which earned an Academy Award for best screenplay and did phenomenal business at the box office. But that was a quirky teenage fairy tale, full of implausibly sweet eccentrics, whereas Young Adult adopts a far more ambivalent attitude towards its disagreeable protagonists.
Theron plays Mavis Gary, a lonely and neurotic ghostwriter for an ailing franchise of teen-romance novels. Although she is fast approaching 40, Mavis still views the world through the simplistic fluffy-pink filter of her fictitious adolescent characters, largely because she remains emotionally grounded in some lost golden age when she was the high-school queen in her small Midwestern hometown. In Reitman's bravura opening credits sequence, Mavis repeatedly rewinds her favourite early 1990s rock song on audio cassette - a simple but effective metaphor for her mental state.
Struggling with alcohol addiction and the bitter aftermath of divorce, Mavis concludes that her one chance at happiness lies in returning home and stealing back her former boyfriend Buddy Slade (Wilson), even though he is blissfully married with a new baby. Needless to say, this deluded quest to recapture past glories is not a roaring success. Prickly meetings with her ex, her parents and her former classmates only confirm her reputation as a self-absorbed drama queen. Her sole grudgingly supportive confidante is Matt Freehauf (Oswalt), the former class geek who was left with permanent disabilities following a brutal attack by school bullies 20 years ago.
In a lesser film, this misfit duo would have ended up as long-lost soul mates who heal their damaged hearts with love. But to their credit, Cody and Reitman avoid the hackneyed Hollywood pay-off of redemption and reconciliation. Instead of a big group hug, the story climaxes with a sour domestic farce of petty humiliation. The quaint townsfolk reveal their envious and unforgiving side, just as Mavis flees back to the city without ever quite facing her selfish, narcissistic, immature nature.
It may sound like a bracingly bitter exercise in feel-bad misanthropy, but YoungAdult is smart, sophisticated and great fun. Indeed, it is a testament to the quality of Cody's sharp-witted script and two fully rounded performances, by Theron and Oswalt, that we end up sympathising with such plausibly unpleasant protagonists. Admittedly, the other characters are a little short on substance, while the story itself feels too slight for such meaty themes as youthful promise betrayed and the hollowness of the American dream. But that said, this deliciously dark comedy never takes an obvious turn and rarely strikes a false note.
artslife@thenational.ae
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m. Winner: Majd Al Megirat, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Ahmed Al Shehhi (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m. Winner: Dassan Da, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Heba Al Wathba, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Richard Mullen, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Harbour Spirit, Adrie de Vries, Jaber Ramadhan.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Messi at the Copa America
2007 – lost 3-0 to Brazil in the final
2011 – lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals
2015 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
2016 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
MATCH INFO
Iceland 0 England 1 (Sterling pen 90 1)
Man of the match Kari Arnason (Iceland)
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Company%20Profile
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Seoul from Dh3,775 return, including taxes
The package
Ski Safari offers a seven-night ski package to Korea, including five nights at the Dragon Valley Hotel in Yongpyong and two nights at Seoul CenterMark hotel, from £720 (Dh3,488) per person, including transfers, based on two travelling in January
The info
Visit www.gokorea.co.uk
The biog
Marital status: Separated with two young daughters
Education: Master's degree from American Univeristy of Cairo
Favourite book: That Is How They Defeat Despair by Salwa Aladian
Favourite Motto: Their happiness is your happiness
Goal: For Nefsy to become his legacy long after he is gon
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
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Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
A%20QUIET%20PLACE
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Company%20Profile
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