REVIEW: Adventureland (2009)
Adventureland
Rated: R
Runtime: 107 minutes
Starring: Jesse Eiseberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Your Rating (Click stars to rate):
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I have been waiting for a really good coming of age movie since I was 15 years old. Adventureland is that movie.
Greg Mottola proved his ability to capture young adult life with his direction of Superbad. He wrote and directed Adventureland and once again, doesn't miss. It isn't another Superbad, though. This film has true heart.
The set-up could have walked down the clichéd path, but Mottola quickly shows us more.
It is 1987. James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) is home after college graduation. He is a virgin, not because he hasn't had chances, but because he wants to be in love. He wants to go with his friend to Europe, but his father lost his job and doesn't have the money to send him. James also wants to go to Columbia grad school. Again, the family can't afford the cost. He has to get a summer job.
After several failed interviews, his only option is to be a game attendant at Adventureland, a small summer theme park in Pittsburgh. There he meets Bobby (Martin Starr), a fellow employee and future friend. He meets Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds), a mechanic and part-time musician. James notices Em (Kristen Stewart) the first day, and they have a mutual attraction. We all know where this goes.
Hormones and inexperience ravage kids. Adventureland captures it perfectly. Early on we see James and Em kiss. We also see Em's secret affair with Conell. And so the conflict is established. Young adults have a way to really make a mess of things.
Mottola creates an original story that is funny, heartwarming, gripping and, most importantly, real.
Do you remember those careless summers, staring at the boy or girl across the pool? I do. I remember the subtle cues for a kiss, the brief glances, a brush of the hand, a smirk and a laugh. It's all in Adventureland.
I also remember the heartache. That's in this film, too. It's set in 1987 because it can't be in 2008. If this was a present-day movie, the audience wouldn't connect with it as much. We're transported back to 1987, which forces us to go back in our mind's eye to whenever we were 21 years old. It helps us interact with the film.
Jesse Eisenberg successfully carries the movie as the intellectual kid who is capable of socializing. That's different than Martin Starr's Joel, who is extremely intelligent, but painfully awkward. Starr steals almost all of his scenes and is perfectly cast. I would only like to know if actual game attendants are this smart.
Kristen Stewart, fresh off her Twilight coming-out party, is excellent. She plays Em as confused, frustrated and guarded. We know she is troubled from the outset, but we don't know why for quite some time. That's a testament to Stewart's acting. She is that one person we always wanted to get to know. Some of us pulled the trigger, others still only have an ever-fading memory.
Ryan Reynolds believably turns Connell into that guy we all see around who can't seem to grow up, emotionally. He's stuck as a 20-something and will never go farther. It's sad.
The remaining characters exist for plot points and don't offer much more. Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig are hysterical as husband and wife managers, Bobby and Paulette. They are used primarily as markers between acts. We see them three times as the plot rises, climaxes and falls.
Adventureland is, at long last, a good-hearted young love story. Mottola is a director to watch as he returns to the big screen after directing episodes of cult TV hits “Undeclared” and “Arrested Development.” His work on Superbad and diversity in writing and directing Adventureland will make his next project, Paul, highly anticipated. Four stars.
I've already pre-ordered my copy of Adventureland. Unfortunately, this work will join “Undeclared” and “Arrested Development” in great media no one watched when they first had the chance. Now ask anyone who's seen those shows and this movie, and you will find a devoted fan. As my dad once told me, “Arrested Development is the best 26-hour movie I've ever seen.” I agree, and Adventureland doesn't have much competition either. Four stars.
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Where it's playing?
Canton/Potsdam: Click here for current listings.
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