Oscar Watch: 'Young Adult' just needs to grow up

Posted Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 4:10 PM Central
Last updated Friday, October 14, 2011 at 11:15 AM Central

by John Couture

If there's one movie that continues to generate Oscar Buzz for all of the wrong reasons, it's Young Adult. Don't get me wrong, with director Jason Reitman teaming back up with writer Diablo Cody, everyone is expecting more of that Juno magic.

I hate to say it, but not even the addition of perennial awards contender Charlize Theron to the mix is going to help this non-starter. Apparently the story goes that Reitman felt his last film Up in the Air peaked too early in the Oscar buzz race and purposely held back the poster and trailer for Young Adult until the right time.

I hate to break it to you Jason, but it takes a lot more than timing to win an Oscar. You know, it might help if you actually have the goods.

The trailer for Young Adult supposedly dropped today on Apple, but it's no longer on the site. Thanks to ComingSoon.net, there's at least one copy online that is still making the rounds. Although I'd hurry up as and watch it as it's only a matter of time until Paramount pulls the plug. UPDATE: It's back up on Apple's site with no changes. I wonder now more than ever why it was up, pulled and put back. Hmm.

Is it that bad? I wouldn't say it's the worst trailer that I've ever seen, but it's definitely bad enough to make me question how anyone could have considered it for any sort of Oscar. It's just a really bad trailer.

Now, the movie may indeed be top-notch, and with this level of talent behind and in front of the camera you would hope so, but this trailer doesn't do it any favors whatsoever. It's pretty bad when the best thing I can say about it is the inclusion of David Bowie's "Queen Bitch."

What do you think? At this late stage, it might be too late to fix first impressions. Young Adult is set to debut in theaters on December 9.