Adventureland

Directed by:  Greg Mottola
Written by: 
Starring:

Jesse Eisenberg has made a (so far short) career playing awkward, nuerotic characters that finally came to a peak, artistically, with this year’s The Social Network.  Kristen Stewart has made a career out of playing depressed, angsty characters, such as Bella Swan in the Twilight Series, yet while her role in Adventureland is sometimes more of the same it does give her the opportunity to show range and emotion that doesn’t involve swooning over a sparkly vampire.  Adventureland isn’t a fantastic film, but more a series of entertaining and poignant moments and a great vehicle for it’s supporting cast.  

Set in 1987, Adventureland is a sort of autobiography of director Greg Mottola’s summer he spent working at a theme park.  In the film, Mottola is clearly James Brennan (Eisenberg) who is fresh out of college and now needs a summer job after his Europe plans fall through.  Where does one work with a literature degree?  The local theme park of course.  This job, like most summer jobs, will define his year and become the framework of his daily life and, of course, his love life.  James is lucky enough to have two oddball bosses, played by Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig of SNL fame.  If only we were all lucky enough to have Hader and Wiig as our bosses.  While working the games section of the park, James meets the lovely Emily Lewin (Stewart) and quickly, and quietly, falls in love with her.  Emily comes with her own baggage, including a hatred of her step-mother and her sexual involvement with a married man (played by a surprisingly charming Ryan Reynolds).  The film follows the typical ups and downs of two young people in love, ending, of course, with the love part.  The real pleasure in watching this film is the scenes in between, anchored by a great supporting cast that includes Hader, Wiig, Reynolds, Wendie Malick, and Martin Starr.  

Mottola also has writing credits and you can almost sense which scenes are actually lifted from his experiences and those that are, let’s say, fabricated.  The scenes that seem most forced are the ones involving Emily and her step-mother.  The dialogue and the action seem a little forced, but Stewart manages to pull through relatively unscathed.  Everything that takes place at the theme park is pretty funny and, most importantly, real.  The subplot between Starr’s character and a fellow female employee is one of the better parts film, due to Starr’s honest portrayal of a character that he perfected in ‘Freek and Geeks.’  What’s really refreshing is this isn’t your typical teem comedy, which one might expect from the director of Superbad.  While not always perfect, Adventureland is harmless and worth your time and the price of a rental.