Adventureland

B+ (8.3)


Working at an amusement park. Not so bad for a summer job though. Or is it?

That's what I thought if you are making an effort at school, don't have much to save which you can use to spend on something you want then get a job that last until you come back to school.

Anyway this is Adventureland probably the most awful theme park you would ever visit.

It is 1987 and James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) had just graduated from college. When his plans on travelling to Europe fell short, he decided to get a summer job to save up for the trip. He gets a job in Adventureland where he meets some fellows. When he started work he sees that Adventureland is bankrupt and couldn't give away a giant stuffed panda at the games. He sees Emily (Kristen Stewart), a person working at the same section as he is. He becomes infatuated with her and meets along the way his co workers: the dry Joel (Martin Starr), the promiscious yet sweet Lisa P. (Margerita Leviera) and the good looking yet infideled maintenence employee Cornell (Ryan Reynolds).

As Brennan becomes attracted to Em, she is secretly meeting up with Cornell despite the fact that Cornell has a wife.

Director Greg Mottola, who previously directed Superbad, goes back to his roots and shoots a film based on his actual life working as an employee at an amusement park. Guess what. It is somehow a great teen flick.

The amusement park has familiar territory to high school where different personalities of each teenage employee are explored widely within each character. Like John Hughes, this is where we feel for these characters and understand them. It is clever and yet moving

Parallel and similar to John Hughes' Pretty In Pink, Jesse Eisenberg and Ryan Reynolds fight for Kristen Stewart. Eisenberg plays the nerdy student while Reynolds play the good looking sort-of preppie. It is interesting that the story goes into the love triangle since Eisenberg, Stewart (who doesn't even suck one bit at this movie given how she's famous for Twilight) are the most interesting characters there is. While Ryan Reynolds take in some serious acting (he previously done Van Wilder and terrible rom coms), he doesn't give the fact that you should care about him. But it is nice to see that he doesn't get into that stereotype where the good looking people aren't that arrogant.

There are some nice people from the cast including Martin Starr, and Bill Hader who does most of the comedy for this film.

In fact the one thing you will like about Adventureland is the soundtrack of songs from the 80s. It would connect not just teens but adults because they will be familiar of their youth from that decade such as The Cure, Crowded House and INXS.

The problem of this movie is that there is a pace where the movie becomes so slow it feels so boring and complicated.

Adventureland has a screenplay original even if part of the plot is similar to other teen comedies. But the characters are the most important and takes you back to your youth. But anyway it's adoring, witty and makes Jesse Eisenberg also known as the poor man's Michael Cera just Jesse Eisenberg