Adventureland (2009)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Expected more

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

I find it hard to decide if I want to applaud this movie for doing away with the usual obviously designed dialogues that exceed the characters intellect, or to criticise it for its very few original and surprising moments. One clear issue I have with embracing the former perspective is that the characters themselves are hopelessly exaggerated. The likable nerd, the philosophical jew, the femme fatale waiting to be rescued by true love, the sexy gum-popping lipstick chick, the bald mother-in-law witch, the lets-hit-each-other-in-the-balls jokester, the queer folks running an amusement park... The only character which has a slightly surprising side to me would have to be Connell, who is an adulterer and liar but still manages to be a likable guy, and garner some sympathy when he doesn't rat James out. So you construct a story that has not much originality over any other romcoms, cook up the characters out of the usual rather one- dimensional repertoire, then try to be more realistic and life-like about their dialogues? To me, this ended up being neither fish nor fowl.Still, to some degree, I can't help but succumbing to the romantic summer fair attraction of Adventureland, its crew, its atmosphere. If you want to watch a similar themed movie, with more heart, originality and less pathos, consider The Way Way Back.

There is one aspect that makes Adventureland stand out from other movies about teenagers. Adventureland isn't overly dramatic. I don't think there is a one scene in this film that made me roll my eyes and think "well that would never happen". Adventureland is simple, which makes it realistic. The problems these characters are having, their feelings and situations, are very familiar to many teenagers, which means Adventureland doesn't alienate teenage viewers - apart from most of the actors clearly not being teenagers.While the story is simple, it's also intriguing. You want to see what happens, how the main character is going to screw up this time. You also want to see if something crucial is going to be revealed from the characters. There are a lot of characters who make the audience wonder what's up with them, why they are the way they are. Well, we don't get much insight on that, just hints, clues. That isn't disappointing however, it feels okay. After all, you never know everything about everyone.The fact that Adventureland took place in the 80's didn't seem to hold much meaning. It affected the soundtrack and technology available, that's it. It wouldn't have much effect if the movie didn't mention that it happened in the 80's. The problems and the events of the movie are more or less ageless. They could happen in the 80's, in the 90's, 2010's, in the future... Crushes, love, bad jobs and money issues are always there. Of course the 80's music goes very well with the movie. The songs used are amazing. The music alone could've been enough to make the movie feel like 80's. I'm not sure if I'm a fan of Jesse Eisenberg's acting. He seems like Michael Cera: they both seem to have that one character over and over again.Sure, Eisenberg is really good at that one character, but what does it tell us about his skills?Adventureland is an interesting movie. I don't like all the plot points, but it makes me just the tiniest bit inspired. I'm just not sure what it's inspiring me to do. Write a YA-novel? Have more teenager experiences like this one? I just don't know. But I enjoyed this movie.

Jesse Eisenberg's role as naive college nerd who must work played brilliantly. Many funny scenes when you know what life in the 80s was like. Kennywood Park well made use of. Bill Nader hilarious with his fake 80s mustache. Kristen Steward stale and unconvincing as always. She needs to lay off the grabbing her hair bit. Kristen Wiig- even just standing around doing nothing- is funny. And Martin Starr really cute as the lost intellectual Jew.Ryan Reynolds' fans however might be a tad bit disappointed. Nice slap stick-like boys jokes, but overuses stereotypes. (Promotes drug use. Perhaps just the reality).Nice short entertainment for a rainy afternoon.

Adventureland represents everything I pray my first months as a college graduate do not included. Although… worse things than bro- ing out with Ryan Reynolds and having Kristen Stewart fall madly in love me could without-a-doubt go down. Jesse Eisenberg, the un-expected hero of Adventureland (expected hero, really) portrays a less asshole-ish version of his Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, pulling out all the nerdy stops, including but not limited to: an immensely awkward and unfailing stammer when speaking to any remotely attractive woman, a less-than- flattering Jew-fro, and a borderline translucent complexion (admittedly much like my own). Kristen Stewart is… well, Kristen Stewart, bringing the exact same mannerisms and monotone speech that she brings to every other film she's been in. Last but not least, Ryan Reynolds plays the classic douche. Did I mention that Adventureland takes place in the 80's? I shouldn't be too harsh, though, considering that I actually enjoyed the film and the acting wasn't all that bad. Do not be mistaken, Adventureland is for the youthful, it is for those looking for a light-hearted comedy, it might even be for the unintelligent (not exclusively but mainly, so I surmise), but all this does not mean that it is a bad movie. Adventureland is a small, probably a bit underrated for what it is, romantic-comedy, whose scale tips more in favor of comedy. This, I believe, is for the best. I am not sure this trio of actors, all with their total of one solid performance between them (see paragraph above), are ready to form a Scarlet Letter-esque love triangle in a dramatic romance film akin to that of Blue Valentine or Her or even something similar to the more humorous but still-siding-with-romance-over-comedy, (500) Days of Summer (though Reynolds has certainly tried). Adventureland is funny, and I wouldn't think anyone who has seen it would fight with me on this. Bill Hader, as Bobby, steals the show with his sheer absurdity. One scene in particular is especially hilarious. It comes after James (Eisenberg) stands up for Em (Stewart) by jabbing a slightly over-weight and probably drunk more- or-less hillbilly in the abdomen, which causes the hillbilly's equally likely-to-wear-a-trucker-hat friend to angrily chase James around Adventureland, the carnival where he and Em have summer jobs. James races into the main office and breathes out the words, "Someone is trying to kill me." Hader responds, he grabs his women's softball bat and exits the office screaming profanities and essential death threats at the attacker, who, believing Hader to be a full- blown psychopath, runs off. Along with attacking a patron of Adventureland who refuses to properly dispose of his empty soda and insanely commentating for a predetermined race of plastic horse cut-outs, Hader dominates the movie, keeping it fresh and making it easy to watch the film in its entirety. While, I refuse to say there was anything redeeming about Reynolds in Adventureland, himself and his character included, there were moments that I was pleasantly surprised by the Eisenberg and Stewart's acting efforts. Specifically was James' confrontation of Em after discovering that she has been sleeping with Connell in secret, which has been the cause of Em's self-loathing and inability to commit to James (Reynolds really does his darndest to f@#k everything up in this one). Stewart's incredible stress and confusion are remarkably apparent on her crying face as she watches her love life go to complete and total sh%t all in about five minutes. Then, she returns home, where her rapidly balding step- mother calls her an "ungrateful bitch." Rough. Maybe the acting is tad bit underwhelming, maybe the arch of the film's plot is disappointingly predictable, maybe I wanted to strangle Ryan Reynolds for the entire runtime of the film, but, in the end, I still like this movie. Like many movies about young people, Adventureland connects with… well, young people. It's definitely no Ferris Bueller's Day Off or Breakfast Club (I didn't exactly want to crash a massive parade in the heart of downtown Chicago or befriend a low-life named John Bender after seeing this film), but I did connect with the notion of longing for love and excitement. James has a grand vision of what he hopes his life will be like, a vision that contrasts hideously with how his life is now, and he ultimately finds this to be deeply upsetting. These feelings are probably felt by a multitude of young men and women, and I pride Adventureland for being aware of that. However, much like the arch of the plot, this trope has been played upon time and time again. I like Adventureland for the simple reason that it is funny and light-hearted, I connect with it on some level, and it is by no means an investment watching it (it's not a "thinker," so to speak). I would recommend it for date night; that's probably the best way that I can describe Adventureland.