Called “a cringefest in the best way possible” by Entertainment Weekly and a “hilarious dramedy” by Marie Claire, Young Adult equally alternates between lighthearted and fun and emotional uneasiness.
“The intention was to create a score that was quite intimate – just a few instruments – to have a very direct connection to the emotions going on the screen,” said Kent. “Whether that means lonely and isolated or lively and full of motion the sparseness of the ensemble was to give the music quite a visceral impact. Sometimes that called for solo piano, evoking a sense of isolation, or a junkyard swing-band to mirror Mavis’s unstoppable force.”
Over the years, Kent has developed relationships with directors as diverse as Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt, Citizen Ruth, Election), Mark Waters (Mean Girls, Just Like Heaven, Freaky Friday, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Mr. Popper’s Penguins) and Richard Shepard (Reign Over Me, The Matador, The Hunting Party, Mexico City, Oxygen, Mercy).
In Young Adult, Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to relive her glory days and attempt to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). When returning home proves more difficult than she thought, Mavis forms an unusual bond with a former classmate (Patton Oswalt) who hasn’t quite gotten over high school either.
“I love working with Jason. He has such a strong musical sense, and really helps me pair back the music to the simplest, most elemental way to have a big impact,” said Kent. “This is our third film together, and it feels like we are getting better and more elegant in the way we collaborate, and that is generating rich musical ideas and lots of interesting experiments.”
