Nut Up or Shut Up is The Important Rule. . .

Rating: 9/10 (16 February 2010)

. . . and it's a great rule in the aptly-titled, shameless B-grade, horror comedy, "Zombieland", which, unlike the film's blood-and-flesh eating monsters, keeps on going strong within its 88 minutes.
Due to some poor schmuck eating a diseased cheeseburger, humanity has devolved into ravenous zombies. Fortunately, there are smart yet unconventional holdouts amidst the chaos: nerdy, coward college student Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg of "The Hunting Party" and "The Squid and the Whale") who wants to reunite with his parents and free-spirited, gun-loving redneck Tallahassee (two-time Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson of "Cheers", "Natural Born Killers" and "The Messenger") who has a "love jones" for Twinkies snack cakes (I heard they can survive a nuclear holocaust).
Along the way, they meet (and get conned) by sibs Wichita (Emma Stone of "Superbad") and Little Rock (Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin of "Little Miss Sunshine") while trying to find sanctuary in a L.A.-based amusement park. Can this foursome, whose names are shared with the towns they were born in, get along without becoming zombie chow?
Rookie helmsman Ruben Fleischer and co-scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have a ball and a half in the flick that delightfully echoes the works of Carpenter, Raimi, Romero and Smith. As CGI captions, the rules to survive and deal with zombies (like being in shape and avoiding lavatories) are boldly and tongue-in-cheek noted, voice-over style, by Eisenberg, who could probably out nerd philosophize Michael Cera any day of the week. His caution trait is matched by Harrelson's macho goofiness and tenacity, keeping each other alive. A younger version of Stockard Channing and a possible Tarantino stock actor, Stone acts way older than she looks while Breslin slyly reps struggling innocence in a dark world; both ladies pull it off.
The appearances by Amber Heard ("Pineapple Express". "The Informers") and Oscar nominee Bill Murray (the Ghostbusters films, "Broken Flowers") are self-mocking and reliable. I wish there was more of the clown zombie. Oh well. . .
"Zombieland" is a nice place to visit. If you plan to stay, plan to have lots of guns and ammunition, follow Columbus's rules and have fun.