Beauty vs Beast: The Monster From Mini Apple
Monday, August 4, 2014 at 2:22PM 
JA from MNPP here, and I think we've got some Charlize Theron fans up in here, correct? While we ache away on our insides for Mad Max: Fury Road to get here (May seems so far away) let's give her one of her very own "Beauty vs. Beast" tributes to pass the time.
I contemplated going the Snow White route but that seemed kinda obvious so the best Charlize movie instead. Jason Retiman's 2011 too-cool-for-Oscar flick Young Adult is endlessly rewatchable... as long as you get off on cringing through your laughter and watching a wonderful actress wield her beauty like a weapon.
One that cuts both ways - watching Mavis be stripped of her beautification accoutrement (those sad silicone inserts) becomes a perverse sort of deglamming that would have made Aileen Wuornos blush. And Patrick Wilson's no slouch - he always gets taken for granted as the premiere amiable suburban object, but Buddy's a sharp portrait of a dude who's never had to give too much thought to things having a whole lot of thought smashed his way in way too short a time.
You have one week to cast your vote for the prom king or the prom queen and let us know why in the comments - and give Charlize your birthday wishes while you're at it!
PREVIOUSLY Even though we tried to bribe you a little bit by showing off Tom Hanks' surprisingly fabulous gams, you were having none of it on the occasion of Turner & Hooch's 25th anniversary - slobbery though he may have been it's just a general rule that you're never gonna beat an adorable doggy. Hooch bounded away with just short of 70% of the vote; said Henry:
"As a cat person, I would ordinarily choose the human......but my fourth (or was it fifth) husband was a neatnik. I'll take slobbery over Felix Ungernesseryness any day."
Reader Comments (25)
Suggestion: What pair of Stephen Frears actresses were more robbed: The women of Dangerous Liaisons or the women of The Grifters?
Mavis Mavis Mavis Mavis Mavis. She is a terrible masterpiece. I wouldn't even have remembered Buddy's name (sorry Patrick Wilson).
I'm still waiting for Young Adult 2, wherein Mavis is commissioned to ghostwrite Jasmine French's tell-all autobiography. Just Cate, Charlize, Stoli martinis, Makers on the rocks, and a tape recorder between them.
Charlize Theron should have won the Osar that year. Never mind that she wasn't nominated.
And if you don't deeply relate with Mavis then you're either not human or have a perfect life.
I luv Mavis. She's a perfect little horror show with a cautionary tale chaser.
My (lower) body says Buddy but the rest of me screams Mavis!
i love both of them so i guess i have to vote from both computers.
@Hayden W. - I would give an inordinate amount of money to crowdfund that sequel. Brilliant!
Mavis to the max. Charlize really got into that train wreck of a character so perfectly. It's one of the most criminally underrated performances since it is such a rarity. Would love to have seen beauty and the beast be Mavis v. Matt (Patton Oswalt's character).
Recently attended a screening of Young Adult with Jason Reitman and he talked about the force of nature that is Charlize. (SPOILERS) Apparently the climactic speech in Buddy's front yard at the baby shower was done in only two really long takes because Charlize was perfect and tore through it instantly.
Thank you for this post. Thank you for talking about one of my favorite movies and performances of the decade.
Chris - Having the competition be between Charlize & Patton is a great idea, and I feel ridiculous that it never even occurred to me. I guess you put Patrick Wilson in front of me and I just have trouble seeing much else.
Do you even have to ask? Mavis all the way!
Mavis. Buddy is blind and seems dumb. The end.
I love Charlize and Mavis so much, but "looks like Patrick Wilson" seals my vote for Buddy.
I've worked with both of them. I voted for Buddy.
Charlize Theron gave the best performance of that year. Sorry Viola :(
Charlize Theron will never lose this poll unless you pit her against La Streep.
This movie was so perfectly realized it makes 'Labor Day' even more puzzlingly terrible by contrast.
I agree with some of you guys that Charlize deserved to win the Oscar that year. So team Mavis for me. Plus, she listens to the same song over and over. We've all done that.
Shouldn't this Patrick Wilson vs. Patton Oswalt?
@Joe
Why are you saying sorry to Viola when she didn't win?
gotta go with the only person in mercury who could write a book or wear a dress like that (even if she surely would've called me a theatre fag in high school - it's an expression)
I almost vote for Buddy because of Patrick Wilson, but of course I chose the bitch, Mavis!
Mavis, because I honestly didn't even remember he was in the movie LOL omg, time for a refresher!
Yes, Buddy looks like Patrick Wilson, which... SWOON... and he's such a sweetheart, but good GOD is he dull. I'd much rather go drinking with Mavis. She may be mean, but there's no way any time spent with her would EVER be boring. Plus, Charlize is just the coolest.
I voted for Buddy only because he's such a dead-on version of that sweetheart, "doesn't-know-he's-good-looking" Minnesota boy.
It's one of my favorite films from the past ten years, and I *love* that Diablo Cody told the AV.Club that she purposely chose the locale of Minneapolis over New York City because she found the story of somebody from a small hick town escaping to a grander city that was MINNEAPOLIS and being thought of as famous back home was much more believable than NYC or L.A.