Adventureland Review-By Kelsey Zukowski

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr
Written & Directed By: Greg Mottola
Grade: B+

Adventureland takes us to the summer of 1987 to Adventureland, a second rate theme park. The film concentrates on the theme parks employees and the difficulties they are going through, which is what brought them there. Writer/director, Greg Mottola, worked at the theme park in his youth in the summer of ’87. He is writing what he knows here and although it might seem like a simple story there is great complexities of it that he hits on with honesty.

James Brennan (Eisenberg) has just graduated college and has plenty of plans here on out starting with a trip to Europe with his friends. After summer he is going to go to graduate school at Columbia University where he will be sharing an apartment with his best friend. However, all of these plans begin to look grim when his father loses his job and they have to move to Pittsburgh. Now his parents will no longer be able to pay his way as they have in the past. He doesn’t have money for Europe anymore or even for school and rent in the fall. So James has to spend his summer working and saving up money. He applies for a number of jobs, but no one will even take him very seriously as the only job he has ever had is working on his school’s literary magazine. So James is forced to resort to the one place he knows will hire him, Adventureland. He tries to get a job managing the rides, but he is pegged as a games guy.

James is having a miserable start to his summer, but one of his co-workers in particular, Em (Stewart), serves as a good distraction. The two of them connect right away. Even after James talks about his ex-girlfriend and being a virgin while on a date with Em, she still likes him. The two spend time with each other and get closer, but there is something holding them back. Whenever James talks to her affectionately, Em emphasizes that she wants to take things slow. We find out that the handyman, Connell (Reynolds), at Adventureland, is having an affair with Em. He brings her back to his mother’s basement for the occasional one-night stand. Connell seems to be friendly to James even when he learns that there is something going on with him and Em. However, it is questionable whether he is trying to break them up or whether he knows he will never commit to Em and just wants the best for him even if it isn’t him. Throughout this, James gets confused on their status and accepts a date with Lisa P, the girl every guy there lusts over. However, it doesn’t take long for him to realize that Em is the only one he wants. Before long, everyone’s secrets come out. Even though, in many ways things end up being quite a mess, this summer had an impact no matter how you look at it.

The story itself is pretty simple. It is no question that the cast played a major part in creating the charm that we see. Jesse Eisenberg does pretty well as the somewhat shy, but kind, James. The character goes through a number of transitions and Eisenberg brings this all out. At first he is bright and optimistic, thinking everything it at his grasp. He becomes more sarcastic and pessimistic as everything in his life seems to be falling apart. It’s hard for him to care about that much this summer aside from Em. He even has to be trained on how to be excited at work, which makes him very relatable as most minimum wage jobs aren’t the easiest to fake excitement for. He finds distractions that end up being meaningful reactions with those that happen to be in a similar situation or for some reason or another are stuck working the same lowly job. Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart have great chemistry together. In many ways their characters are opposites, but their attraction seems genuine. They are both going through things and need someone who actually cares to help them through it all. Stewart does a great job and takes on a very mature and versatile role here and really adds understanding and depth to it. She’s rebellious, partially because she has to be to stay sane. She has quite a few parental issues, both of heartbreak and power struggles. She also struggles with Connell, clearly wanting him to commit, but trying to restrain her emotions as she doesn’t see that happening. Perhaps, this is why she is afraid to get too close to anyone else.

Martin Starr gave one of the funniest performances as Joel, who also worked in the games department with James. There was a very matter of fact way to him, such as one of the best delivered lines in the film, “We are doing the work of lazy, pathetic morons”. He is one of the only workers there aside from James and Em that is actually intelligent and has a bit of depth. Of course, his taste ends up turning girls away. His performance reminded me a lot of him as Bill in “Freaks and Geeks”. He is just as funny here and has this blunt way about him that works wonders. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig were also very funny as the over-enthusiastic couple managing Adventureland. Their energy and quirky comedy is great, especially with the dynamic they create together. Ryan Reynolds also did very well as the somewhat-scummy Connell. It walks a fine line, yet gives his character a very human quality. He is definitely flawed, cheating on his wife and not having the courage to tell her this wasn’t what he really wants. For all we know this may just be what he tells Em so he can be with her, since it is from her that we learn that he feels trapped in his marriage. He is very un-emotional towards Em and with all that he is putting her through it seems that he should at least acknowledge this. Still, he is friendly to the guy that might be a much healthier choice for her. Through him, he has the chance to be a bit more selfless than he has been. What Reynolds does though, is prevents us from fully liking or trusting his character, but not letting us hate him either.

The film recreates the 80’s through the style, a great soundtrack, and the overall environment that the film creates. For those that grew up during this time, it is sure to trigger a bit of nostalgia while others can still have fun with the atmosphere that this creates. There is a lot of comedy in the theme park itself through how low rate it is. Corn dogs that are left out for over 24 hours are served. The giant stuffed animals are not supposed to be given out and it is treated like a life or death matter. Things are glued down in the games, making it physically impossible to win so the park has to buy less prizes, using the same ones over and over again. Even the attitudes that go along with this are very funny. Also, the characters are very representative of the position that they work in at the park. The rides workers are used to being the main attraction so to speak as they are always on display. While they are fun, they are mindless. On the other hand, most of the games workers are more intelligent, complex, and casual or low key.

Adventureland is a very funny film, but it is more than that. I loved Motolla’s previus project, the intensely funny, Superbad. Superbad had more quotable laugh out loud moments, while Adventureland comedy is subtler. In fact, a lot of it depends on the individual, but overall there are a lot of internally funny moments in the situation itself instead of laugh out loud jokes. Adventureland has a lot more heart, but to go along with that heart it also is covered in pain. Now, don’t get me wrong this really isn’t a depressing movie at all, but a movie you will be able to have a lot of fun with. However, through the characters and many fundamental elements of growing up, it hits on a lot of hardships of the characters that in turn make them multi-dimensional and our care for them is stronger because of it. Bad home lives are a major constant throughout the main characters. Em comes from a rich family, but is working at Adventureland simply to get away from her parents. Through her stepmother she struggles with change and is really in rival with her for obtaining a role Em doesn’t think she deserves. Her father just doesn’t take any steps to acknowledge her feelings or what she might be going through. What is most troubling is the pain her mom has left her with. James really isn’t understood any better. He has been sheltered his whole life, his parents have been giving him the illusion of being an adult but have given him everything. He has never really had to live in the real world until now. All his security is ripped away from him, giving him all of the responsibilities of an adult, but being forced to live at home and essentially being treated as a child in other respects with no understanding of what this might do to him. Joel struggles with financial struggles with his family in a similar way, but he never had the wealth that James previously did. He is just living on the same grim scale he has been. He is so embarrassed by his house that he refuses to let James in and they end up sitting in the backyard on lawn chairs instead. Joel is very blunt and when it comes down to it, he judges people for who they are. However, he doesn’t have a great deal of confidence socially. He does have friends, but he is conscious of what they might think.

Adventureland is a highly relatable film that anyone can say that they have been there, whether it is from relating to the spirit of the 80s, having a crummy job they were stuck with, have had similar guy/girl problems, struggled with home life or finances within that family, or have questioned themselves and had to go through certain experiences and have certain relationships that made them grow in to the person that they are. There is so much material here that everyone can find something to relate to in Adventureland. It’s a lighthearted comedy, with plenty of laughs, but more importantly multi-faceted characters, that allow you to feel their anguish, and witness this very small chapter in their lives that they clearly have taken something from as they move on with their lives after that summer working at Adventureland.