Adventureland

Movie Grade: A-

If Wikipedia is to be trusted, writer/director Greg Mottola actually based the movie on the Adventureland on Long Island after having worked there when he was younger. I remember going to the Adventureland as a kid, and anyone else who has ever been there can tell you that the real one is worse then the one in the film. It was a great idea to name the movie after the actual park, if that is actually what Mottola did, because most of my friends from Long Island want to go see it just because of how terrible the park really is.

Adventureland takes place in the summer of 1987. James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) has just finished college, and has some big plans to travel through Europe and move to New York with money he has saved along with some from his parents. Things take a turn for the worse when he finds out that his parents just don't have the money to give him and he has to pick up a summer job to move to New York. After applying at all sorts of places, he takes a job working at Adventureland, a trashy theme park that he is sure will ruin his summer. To his surprise, over his summer working there he meets a group of new friends and begins to fall for Em (Kristen Stewart).

The movie is both a comedy and a romantic-comedy, but it delivers both types very well. It doesn't suffer from what I like to call Wedding Crashers Syndrome, which is when a film goes about half way as a standard comedy, then makes an awkward turn to a complete romantic-comedy. Watch Wedding Crashers and try to say it isn't true. Anyway, this is not the case here because both styles are there throughout the entire movie in all the right doses. We know the entire time that James is having girl trouble and is, in fact, a virgin. It's no surprise when drama comes up, and it is actually well executed with comical means. The romantic scenes aren't anything to complain about. They're all beautiful with perfect music, lighting, and silhouettes that really capture the mood.

The conflicts in the film, along with the settings are all real to life. I feel like most people, in one way or another, will be able to find a little bit of themselves in James' insecurities. Also, coming home from college and feeling like home basically sucks is something I know a lot of people have dealt with. The awful summer job is something most people can understand, complete with the crazy boss. His love life is pretty realistic too. It isn't like he hasn't ever kissed a girl or anything; he just hasn't done his thing because he hasn't felt in love. Appealing to the female audience a little bit,

making him seem like the sensitive guy they're looking for.

Em plays a bit of an anti-hero at times because even though she is a main character, and we're rooting for her and James to get together, she is secretly having sex with Connell (Ryan Reynolds). Connell is married, older, lies about being a musician, and is an all around genuine creep.

It's interesting though because they don't play him up as a terrible character. I think the fact that the people that movies would usually portray as just evil characters are in fact nice people most of the time adds some reality to the movie. There bad qualities are somewhat explainable as well. Connell is just the type of guy who wants younger girls' attention, and Em has a harsh home life and doesn't really love herself. People like that do exist and I've known them to act the way Em does.

Em's flaws end up adding a lot to her relationship with James. James has never had sex because he has never really fallen in love, something his college friends seem to see as an issue. On the other hand, Em has had a great deal of sex but has never been in love with anyone. In an odd way, it's almost as if they are both virgins because Em has never had sex that meant something to her.

Being set in the 80's gives a nice touch to the movie as well. It adds a sense of novelty to viewers in my age demographic and nostalgia to older views. The soundtrack helps for that along with clothing styles and all that fun stuff. The great thing is how universal the story is. If you changed the music, clothes, and some of the settings to modern ones, the movie would be just as good. The idea of a timeless story will help it stay popular in the long run, like Sixteen Candles or Empire Records.

I wanted to see Adventureland when I first saw the trailer, I thought it would be a decent comedy that would keep me entertained in the movie off season that is February to April; Oscars are over and summer blockbusters are far off. I never expected to really love the movie the way I did. I'm not saying this is better than Superbad, that would be a ridiculous claim. What I'm saying is that there is nothing wrong with this movie, absolutely nothing. Everything it tries to do, it does well. The only reason it isn't outstanding is because it doesn't try and do much but give us a good love story with some laughs thrown in. There's nothing wrong with that though. I could definitely see this having some sort of cult following in ten years as a classic teen movie.

Movie Grade: A-

Synopsis:

During the summer

of 1987, recent college grad James Brennan (Eisenberg) takes what he thinks is a going-nowhere job at his local amusement park, only to discover it’s a perfect opportunity to prepare himself for the real world.