I was excited to see this movie, and it moved me more than I thought it would. Mavis (Charlize Theron) leads an uncomplicated, almost boring life as an unfulfilled thirty-something ghost writer, whom others envy with a passion, unbeknownst to her. Meanwhile, she is rapidly giving in to self-diagnosed and painfully obvious depression and alcoholism, wishing for what could have been and drowning the remnants of the dreams of her youth, attempting to revive one of them with a now happily married high school sweetheart, named Buddy. While Mavis' dilemma is misunderstood by many, including her parents, Matt (masterfully played by Patton Oswaltt), crippled in his teens by a misdirected gay hate crime, is the one who can see, feel, and almost taste her pain and path to self-destruction. We and Matt examine her journey on a roller coaster of emotions, which takes her from looking great and caring about her appearance to looking frumpy and pathetic to pulling her hair.
Mavis' disappointment in men, marriage, carreer, material goods, and life in general, is palpable. Buddy represents the missed chance of what she thinks would have been a happy life. And all the while, we're looking at her batting eyelashes, and we're desparately trying to figure out what she really sees in him, as he is especially to us, although undoubtfully kind-hearted, a very average-looking, shallow and simplistic character, who in-turn is puzzled by the attention and intensity suddenly bestowed upon him by this perpetually stunningly beautiful old flame. The name of Buddy is very fitting, as this is what Mavis is lacking in her life, a real buddy, a kind, understanding partner who will give a damn about her no matter what. She is longing for this kind of closeness and unwillingly is nearing its likeness in her carefree relationship with Matt.
Following an unfortunate scene, when Mavis is provoked by an accidental spill of red wine on her silk blouse by the clumsy wife, which triggers her bearing of her soul in front of practically everyone who knew her, she suddenly decides to change and embarks on a hopefully brighter path, surprisingly illuminated by Sandra, the mousy sister of Matt's whose Mavis has been an idol of since high school, Mavis seems to finally realize that what really makes her happy is not in her small home town. After witnessing the first spontaneousshow of affection towards her dog, we watch in awe, as she proceeds to inspect the damage previously done to her car by her own drunken-daze doing, which brings her back to reality and puts her on the drive home and unblocks her writing on the way back to the big city.
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