Adventureland
Tags: romantic, psychedelic, entertaining

Plot synopsis:
In 1987, James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) has two plans. The first plan is to have a summer vacation in Europe after graduating with a comparative literature degree from Oberlin College. His second plan is to attend a journalism graduate school at Columbia University when his holidays end. A few days after his graduation, his parents (Wendie Malick and Jack Gilpin) advise him to seek a part-time job rather than going to Europe when they unexpectedly announce that financial problems have taken a toll on them and they would be unable to financially support him.
James gets a job at Adventureland, a local amusement park in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his childhood friend Tommy Frigo (Matt Bush) works. Assistant manager Bobby (Bill Hader) assigns James to the games area. He meets his co-workers: sarcastic Joel (Martin Starr); Bobby's wife and park manager Paulette (Kristen Wiig); Sue O'Malley (Paige Howard); Mark (Mark Miller); the alluring Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva); and the park's technician, Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds), a part-time musician. Another games worker, Emily "Em" Lewin (Kristen Stewart), saves James from being stabbed by a lying, cheating customer.
With her father and stepmother away, Em throws a party and gets to know James. During the conversation, Em persuades James to join her in the house's swimming pool. After Em leaves the pool, Frigo humiliates James by announcing to the party that James has an erection while leaving the pool, causing an embarrassed James to jump back into the water. After the party, Connell, who has been having an affair with Em, comes over to further pursue it.
Later that week, James goes for a drink with Em and she is surprised to learn James has never had sex. They share a first kiss. The following day, James tells Connell about his strong feelings for Em, which Connell reports to her. Em tells James she wants to take things slow due to problems in her life, leaving James confused and upset. Sue drunkenly makes out with Joel, but rejects him the next day, saying her Catholic parents would not allow her to date a Jew. Outraged, Em calls Sue an anti-Semite in front of other staff members in defense of Joel. Lisa P. asks James on a date, but he has mixed feelings because of his relationship with Em. After Connell talks him into going, he accepts Lisa P.'s offer.
After the date, during which Lisa and James kiss, James learns Em had called to say she regrets having rejected his feelings. Joel later sees James and Em walking together and, irritated by the chain of events, quits. James unsuccessfully tries to talk him out of it, and Joel reveals he's angry at James for dating Lisa P. when James is already in love with Em. James tells Em about going out with Lisa P. After hearing of this, Em goes to Connell's mother's home to end their affair. The park's mentally challenged parking attendant, prompted by Tommy, tells James he saw Em and Connell doing "pushups without any pants on" in the back of Connell's car.
James goes to Connell's mother's house, which is where Lisa P. told him Connell takes girls to have sex and sees Em leaving. Shocked to see James, Em becomes tongue-tied. James leaves angrily, and Em cries. James tells Lisa P. about the affair and asks her not to tell anyone, but she tells her friend Kelly. Upon noticing that all the park employees know, Em quits and moves back to New York. A heartbroken James drunkenly crashes his father's car into a tree and passes out. The next morning, his mother angrily wakes him up and tells him he has to pay to repair it with his summer earnings. On top of that, James' friend from Oberlin, Eric (Michael Zegen) who he had initially planned on moving to New York with, calls to let him know that he will not be going to Columbia and instead will be attending Harvard Business School, thus canceling their living arrangements.
Now, without enough money for graduate school or a place to live, James nonetheless heads to New York City with his parents' blessing and waits outside Em's apartment. She is reluctant to talk to him, feeling she has ruined everything. James tells her he sees her in a different way than she sees herself. Touched, Em brings James up to her apartment. James reveals he is not going to Columbia this year, and considers next year. He gets out of his wet clothes and finds Em still has an Adventureland shirt. They kiss and begin to take their clothes off. James asks, "Are we doing this?", and Em says, "I think so."

Review: The reason being that the film was marketed as another raunchy-sweet comedy from the Apatow empire, when in fact it has almost nothing to do with those films, and is very different from most of writer/director Greg Mottola's previous film "Superbad" (which is great in its own way, but it's nothing like this film).
It is a tender, intimate romance surrounded by goofball humor, but the extent of the 'dirty jokes' in this movie is Jesse Eisenberg's character James getting out of the pool at a house party with an erection.The movie is a sentimental (not sappy, mind), very personal, journey through the summer of 1987 for recent college grad and deep thinker James Brennan (played superbly by Jesse Eisenberg), whose plans for the summer fall apart (due to Reaganomics affecting his father's income) resulting in him having to get a crappy job at the titular amusement park.
James is a virgin, true, a 22 year old one at that, but that has far more to do with the character's tentative nature than any 'quest' to get laid (ala "The 40 Year Old Virgin", which works on its own terms of course, but is again nothing like "Adventureland"), and he is far from bad looking.
Em isn't a dolled-up 'hot chick' with perfectly styled hair and perfect style, she's moderately well-dressed and naturally beautiful, but wears makeup in a grand total of two scenes, and is actually NOT the 'babe' in the film (that's Margarita Levieva as Lisa P, who, though the 'babe', is not the sought-after one).I am finding it hard to describe exactly why I loved this film as much as I did, but I think it mostly comes down to subtle, wonderful writing by Mottola, who was obviously telling a personal story here and did a great job of it.
As noted by Nathan Rabin in his review of "Adventureland", in a lesser film Reynolds (a failed attempt at a 'rock star' who is in an unhappy marriage and is having an affair with Em, and who is a loser to everyone but the deadbeats younger than him at the amusement park) would be a villain, James Brennan's adversary in a typical love triangle.
James returns to his parents' Pittsburgh home with virginity and intellectual pretensions intact.Still planning on attending Columbia Journalism School and needing funds, James seeks summer employment and settles for a job as a game both operator at Adventureland, a local amusement park that has seen better days.
Extremely powerful performances are provided by Jesse Eisenberg, Martin Starr, Margarita Levieva, Ryan McFarland, and especially Kristen Stewart as James's sort of girlfriend Em.These are not stock characters (with the exception of the ballbusting Frigo character, put here for childish laughs).
Rather, it takes seriously the emotional resonance of the sex, the music, the clothes, the hair, the ganja, the drinking, and the want to all involved (it was serious) and in so doing achieves poignancy.The film touched me and not just because I was almost James's age living not too far from Pittsburgh in 1987, but because it addresses what it means to be on the shaky cusp of adulthood in such an honest way.
What makes the movie even more appealing is that it not only doesn't treat its characters as generic stereotypes, but as humans, which makes them more appealing to the audience.Our main character here is James (played perfectly by Jessie Eisenberg) who has just graduated college and is looking forward to his trip to Europe with his fellow pal.
There he meets some interesting people: the two owners (Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig), nerdy Joel (the likable Martin Starr) and the beautiful "Em" (Kristen Stewert).James and Em quickly fall for each other, but there is one small problem, she is in a very dysfunctional relationship with Connell (Ryan Reynolds), who plays the married park maintenance guy.
Most of the characters you can relate to in some kind of way or you may possibly know someone who is similar to them.This movie was definitely advertised wrong; it seemed as though it was going to be a crude but funny comedy like superbad only there was a hell of a lot more seriousness and romance involved.Kristen Stewart who plays Em Lewin does a fantastic job of showing multiple emotions in a single expression.
Anyone who claims she can't act must not have seen this.Jesse Eisenburg playing James also does very well in being one of those smart, funny, intellectual types who at the same time doesn't talk down to people in a condescending way.And may I say bravo to Bill Hader and Kristen Wigg who had just the right comedic timing.
Yes, Adventureland was pitched to us a romantic teen comedy about a horrible summer job but instead the film is a romantic drama that focuses on 21+ year old, coping with the fact that life is in fact full of sour lemons and you need to take a horrible job because it's the only thing you can do.
A love triangle turns into a square, then a hexagon and soon just a big pile of mess.The film itself could go for a very whimsical style here due to the amusement park setting but because of the directors previous works (Freaks and Geeks and Superbad) he decided to go for a super-realistic approach.
The costumes seem like they're right out of value village, the dialog seems like you could have said it today and the acting makes the characters seem as if they're real people.If feel that Adventureland wasn't pitched to the audience as a dramatic look at young love during the backdrop of the late 1980's because in the latter part of this decade, the only way young people are willing to look at the 1980's is through the eyes of irony.
It was funny and sad, so I'd classify it as a comedy/drama.The movie takes place in the 1980's and the main character is forced to take a job a Pittsburgh area amusement park called "Adventureland" so he can save enough money to attend graduate school.
Kristen, incidentally, seems to be playing the same exact character she played in "Twilight", wounded and needy.Based on the trailers, I was expecting something along the lines of "Superbad" but the movie was a lot closer to "Dazed & Confused", a well written period piece of the 1970's.
One thing this movie has that Superbad didn't though, is a truly heart felt and believable love story that gives Adventureland a bit of a more serious tone.
Anyone who sees this film to relax and enjoy a bit of comedy with a heartfelt story, or to reminisce about their teenage years, their first jobs or their personal time at Adventureland, or even to watch a teenage love story will get what they were looking for..
(Although, in the 21st century, that qualifies you as smarter than 75% of moviegoers.) Clichés abound in Adventureland, from Em showing how wonderfully good-hearted she is by criticizing a girl who won't date a Jew, to every single adult in the movie being a fool, to the nerdy guy who hasn't had sex yet, to a romantic meeting in the rain....
This is a character driven movie, and Jesse Eisenberg really shines in a very likable performance as the geekish underdog out to win the heart of the cool and beautiful but angst-ridden Kristen Stewart.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, but "shenanigans" is putting it kindly.The '80s was the decade where coming-of-age dramedies blossomed with great soundtracks, and Adventureland pays off in that regard as well.Motolla himself has warned: "I hope people who grew up in the '80s don't assume it's not for them." Those who are expecting another raunchy teen romp like Superbad may be disappointed.
I'm not the type of person to walk out of a movie - in fact, I've never done it - but Adventureland made it a challenge to stay in the theater in a way that few films do.Let me preface this by saying that I hadn't seen any previews or heard much about Adventureland, so I wasn't expecting a Superbad-esquire romp like many other reviewers apparently did.
There were pockets of insight sprinkled throughout--especially in dealing with the dead-end of indecision that some lives take after college, and in the economic crisis of the late Reagan era that resonates with what we are going through now.This is Greg Mottola's next film after his breakout hit "Superbad," and thus audiences are likely to draw comparisons.
This is a more rewarding movie.Jesse Eisenberg stars as James Brennan, a young man in 1987 who must spend the summer working at a carnival (run by scene stealers Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) in order to pay for graduate school.
I have no clue why this is getting good ratings, and read through a lot of other peoples' comments to try and find out why, and actually came across one person who said practically word-for-word what my boyfriend and I had discussed directly after our viewing.This review points out EXACTLY what was wrong with this terrible film: --------------------------------- Boring and Cliché, 15 April 2009Author: B_D from USAI'm not the type of person to walk out of a movie - in fact, I've never done it - but Adventureland made it a challenge to stay in the theater in a way that few films do.Let me preface this by saying that I hadn't seen any previews or heard much about Adventureland, so I wasn't expecting a Superbad-esquire romp like many other reviewers apparently did.
If anything it subtly condemns the 80s while using its zeitgeist to fuel what is ultimately a rather shallow, go nowhere dramedy that we've seen a thousand times before; And often much better.The cast is blandly appealing and 80s kids will likely find some nuggets of retro joy despite the film's best efforts to eschew nostalgia, but there are few things more annoying than a film that thinks that it's much more profound than it actually is.In the end, 'Adventureland' isn't worth the price of admission..
Their presence gave an unfulfilled hope that this movie would be a lot more fun that it actually was, but Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg came back to remind us that Wiig and Hader were just used decoys for the dry, gloomy, semi-funny feeling the film preferred to fixate itself on..
An ambitious high-school grad has to earn college money to study journalism at Columbia, so he has to take a summer job at "Adventureland, Pittsburg PA", a brummagen (look it up) amusement park where he has to mix with the local dropouts and eventually (and inevitably) finds true love and the meaning of life!
Now Connell is played by Ryan Reynolds, who I detest, although this is how memorable I found him, I actually thought he was Dane Cook through the whole movie until the credits rolled and there he was.I still hate Dane Cook too by the way.Most of the staff are in their teens, which is fine but they are always in pubs, drinking and smoking, not that I am prudish, it's just that I'm sure the legal age is 21 in the US and they never seem to hide anything.To sum up Adventureland is a teen movie unlike many teen movies made for a while, there is no cheesy moments, it is slow and deliberately paced and everyone in it thinks about what they say before they say or do it.Strangely enough even though I would rather watch this a million times than sit through American Pie or Road trip once, I think the level of the dialogue is more accurate in those crappy films, as in my experience being a teen and since then dealing with them, they rarely discuss Melville or underrated Russian authors.Now I think I have suggested that this is not an "event" film, so there isn't much in the way of major plot developments aside from relationship and family issues, which are more easy to appreciate if they aren't listed here.I'm sure that the primary issue faced by the filmmakers and bean counters is that with the target market being teens, would they embrace a clever and intelligent film without explosions and tits?
Sure, it has some good jokes and funny scenarios, but at it's heart, Adventureland is a love story, and a very good one at that.Set in the summer of 1987, we follow Brennan (a typical Jesse Eisenburg character), a high school grad looking for a job to pay for an apartment and a trip to Europe.
Set smack in the late '80s, ADVENTURELAND tells the coming-of-age tale, which such movies are ought to do, of likable, Spielbergian every-boy James who schulbs along in the self-titled ma- and-pa run amusement park the summer before grad school.
ADVENTURELAND plays to the clichés of the time wrapped around a soundtrack of familiar standards, including many that normally don't make the cinematic memory rounds, and, if anything, tells truths that most Gen-Xers either believe, lived through or simply fall prey to that great lie of "remember the time...?" when friends, co-workers or whoever just sorta hung out and talked.With those truths is the, again, likable geek James, who could very well have been written into a John Hughes movie, learns, harshly, that a smooth life isn't handed out, you have to work and relationships aren't as perfect as one may think.
It follows the story of James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) who is struggling to raise the money to go to college and goes to work at a theme park (Adventureland) to raise the funds.
It strikes me as being a far more personal film, presumably because Mottola writes as well as directs.The movie is set in 1987 and is all about James, played by Jessie Eisenberg, who was meant to be having the summer of his life.
Available on Blu-ray Disc (Region B)USA 2008 English (Colour); Comedy/Drama/Romance (Miramax/Sidney Kimmel/This is that); 107 minutes (15 certificate)Crew includes: Greg Mottola (Director/Screenwriter); Sidney Kimmel, Anne Carey, Ted Hope (Producers); William Horberg, Bruce Toll (Executive Producers); Terry Stacey (Cinematographer); Stephen Beatrice (Production Designer); Anne McCabe (Editor); Yo La Tengo (Composers)Cast includes: Jesse Eisenberg (James Brennan), Kristen Stewart (Em Lewin), Ryan Reynolds (Mike Connell), Martin Starr (Joel), Margarita Levieva (Lisa P.), Kristen Wiig (Paulette), Bill Hader (Bobby), Matt Bush (Tommy Frigo), Wendie Malick (Mrs Brennan), Jack Gilpin (Bill Brennan), Paige Howard (Sue O'Malley), Dan Bittner (Pete O'Malley), Josh Pais (Mr Lewin), Mary Birdsong (Francy Lewin), Barrett Hackney (Munch), Michael Zegan (Eric)"Nothing brings people together like a crappy summer job."When a recent college graduate's (Eisenberg) plans for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe are dashed, he is forced to get a summer job in a tacky, run-down amusement park, where he suffers numerous indignities, falls in love with a beautiful but troubled co-worker (Stewart), and has the worst/best time of his life.A gently amusing, genuinely touching, only occasionally gross-out coming-of-age comedy-drama, set in 1987 to an apt, song-based soundtrack (including the perfect, repetitious use of Falco's annoying but popular "Rock Me Amadeus").First of three films (so far) to pair Eisenberg with Stewart; SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE players Hader (frenetic) and Wiig (subdued) are priceless as the park's oddball owners.Blu-ray Extras: Commentary, Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Short Films.
I was expecting some Eisenberg fast talk and Stuart wooden acting in an R-rated comedy, but it was actually pretty low key slice of life film about a college graduate (Eisenberg) who has to work a crappy job and finds summer romance at said job (Stuart), along with the realistic fun that they get into with their friends and coworkers.
The cast is outstanding, and they are all very well able to do both hilarious scenes, as well as dramatic, serious moments, ranging from Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Ryan Reynolds and Michael Zegen, I felt for and understood all these characters, which goes to show just how good their performances really were.
A great script and a stunning cast, Adventureland is a very enjoyable movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good comedy drama.
He hit all the right notes, and managed to be funny and awkward without compromising the lead romantic role.This movie was also an Easter Egg hunt of little surprises, like Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig.
Ryan Reynolds, however, isn't anything special, much like the character he portrays, even if he is a central plot point.However, Adventureland isn't all work and no play: the film isn't without its Superbad-esque comedy.
As well as being a serious, coming-of-age story, Adventureland actually is a pretty funny movie.
Typical of Hollywood for the past 25 years or so, for every three or four terrible, cliché-ridden movies depicting the lives of young people in America, there is one really great film like Adventureland.
Although the story is often predictable, the film is enjoyable and succeeds with moments that actually made me laugh.Set in the summer of 1987, Adventureland shows James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) who has just graduated college with a degree in comparative literature.
His fellow sufferers-in-purgatory include his even more geeky friend, Joel (Martin Starr); his tormentor from elementary school, Frigo (Matt Bush); the elusive girl-of-his-dreams, Emily (Kristen Stewart); hunky security manager, Mike (Ryan Reynolds), who, though married, has got a secret thing going on the side with Emily; sexy hot bombshell, Lisa P (Margarita Levieva); and, finally, two park supervisors played by SNL regulars Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, whose function is to add some understated goofiness to the movie's otherwise gently realistic tone.Based partly on the experiences of writer/director Greg Mottola (who established his bona fides in the genre a few years back with "Superbad"), "Adventureland" is one of those rare youth comedies in which the characters actually come across as real people and not as contrivances paying script-service to a typical coming-of-age story.
It is the simple moments of cinematic magic that made the film work and it's been a while coming since Hollywood goes real and quite satisfying it is.The movie goes like this: Jesse Eisenberg plays a college graduate who is in the midst of a summer job at the local theme park.