Adventureland

 

 

Create your own review

Finally! -- a movie to come out of the extended Apatow family that I can actually watch with my own family! Greg Mottola, who directed the hilarious Superbad, dug deep into his own teenage years for this and you can tell. While the humour is rooted in a similar place as Superbad (one character likes to pee on windows and punch people in the groin), this is much more a heartfelt movie than a comedy.

It is the summer of 1987. James (Jesse Eisenberg) is about to leave for Europe, before heading off to New York in the fall. However, family money problems have prevented the trip, and worse, he needs to get a summer job to pay for New York. Adventureland, a typical 80's amusement park, is the only place who'll hire him. His best friend leaves him a bag of joints to get him through the summer, and James is on his own.

Having gone to amusement parks in the summer of 1987 myself, I was impressed with how authentic Adventureland is. Everything from the cheesey "games games games" T-shirts, to the music, to Bill Hader's moustache (which is almost a character unto itself), and the rides really brought back memories. I am certain that my own local park had the "Music Express" ride, I can recall it very clearly. However, I have to confess that I didn't know anybody who was into Lou Reed back in 1987 myself, but I was in a slightly younger age group than these characters. I sure did remember Poison and Judas Priest. ("Breaking The Law" is the soundtrack to a very funny scene involving a chase through the park over a game that was fixed so it couldn't be won.) In addition, check out Paige Howard's hair. That hair is authentic. I know, because my sister has photos from the era to prove it.

It's at Adventureland (which James sullenly spins positive as "character building") where we meet some of the main characters. Em (Kristen Stewart) and Connell (Ryan Reynolds) befriend James early on, Em saving him from being knifed over a giant panda prize. Martin Starr's geeky Russian lit major is a highlight of the film. Martin Starr is a highlight of everything he's in. Here, he almost seems like a grown up version of Bill, his Freaks and Geeks character. At once he's funny, depressing, witty and loveable. Starr is a great, underrated actor.

Ryan Reynolds is the cool guy (but is he as cool as he appears?) and Kristen Stewart quickly becomes the love interest for James. This is the first time I've seen the much-hyped Kristen Stewart in a film. She is able to play a girl-next-door believably, but in emotional dramatic scenes with Eisenberg, she seemed much more cardboard. Good actress and definitely right for this role, but she still has some growing to do before she's great.

Bill Hader and the always funny Kristen Wiig play the park owners. Wiig delivers most of the humour in such a dry fashion that you have to admire her abilities. Hader is Hader. He's always funny, but here he seems to let his moustache and 80's shorts do the talking.

I really liked Adventureland. I've watched it 5 or 6 times so far since buying it. It's funny but I would hesitate calling it a comedy, especially when Mottola and Hader are involved. Calling it a comedy would give the wrong impression. This is a comedy-drama, and the drama part is equally as interesting as the comedy. If Adventureland had been a straight comedy, it would not have stood up against the competition. It was done right, with the right amount of feel and well written characters.

Pick up Adventureland and take a trip back to 1987. It's pretty much exactly the way I remember it.

This is a teen movie, but it's not what you would expect from a standard teen movie. It's a coming of age story and it's the best out there. The movie is honest. The characters are well played with an awesome breakout role for Jesse Eisenberg. It's a funny movie with a truly authentic core that will make you feel good and throw you back to the 80s. I highly recommend this, even if teen movies are not usually your thing.

Whoa! This was not as advertised: Another teen comedy a la "Superbad". Instead, it is much more of a drama reminiscent of the 1970's (but set in the mid-80's), the same territory covered by the recent "Hot Tub Time Machine" but without actually celebrating the era other than playing some pop music. There were some heavy 'teen movies' before 1983's "Fast Times at Ridgemount High" (which also had a fairly downer dose of drama), and the best parallel example of the tone of this film might be 1979's "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon (in his first role).
Now, that said, it is an okay movie, though leaving me somewhat depressed since an easy calculation tells me that these people are my age now, and the quick, expected, an unfortunately inconclusive ending gives you with the feeling that these characters went nowhere. Unlike "Risky Business", a teen comedy set in the same time period, which has a point - teenage life is difficult, but you can get through it and end up a success, this movie has little point to make other than the fact that the teenage years (though in fact the characters are early 20's) are difficult, and full of angst ridden rebellion that borders on suicide. Just okay entertainment.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 3 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Search Listmania!