Adventureland

[K.B.]

Watching the trailer made me realize something....Jesse Eisenberg has been doing the awkward guy thing LONG before Cera was and Jesse is being ripped off hardcore.

 

[ross2287]

Red Band trailer only made me laugh a little more than the regular one...except for that last line. Hahaha!

So...what's the worst job any of you have had?
For me, it was doing clerical work at a lung clinic. I spent all day putting patient info into Microsoft Access databases. This is of course where I learned to hate Access.

 

[Sawyer]

Jesus, whats with all the Superbad hating here?!

 

[Catman]

I saw it today. It was good, but could have been better. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are under-used. Plus, the movie focuses more on the "dramatic" romance than the "comedic" work-place.

 

[Figs]

I saw it today. It was good, but could have been better. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are under-used. Plus, the movie focuses more on the "dramatic" romance than the "comedic" work-place.

How would you compare it to films like SuperBad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I Love You, Man?

Just wondering if it's as funny or light on laughs.

 

[Catman]

Just wondering if it's as funny or light on laughs.

Light on laughs. It's more of a drama. It's like Breakfast Club. Yea, there's funny scenes here and there but it's practically a teen drama.

 

[Figs]

Light on laughs. It's more of a drama. It's like Breakfast Club. Yea, there's funny scenes here and there but it's practically a teen drama.

I think I'll wait for DVD then. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Octoberist]

i'll see in the theaters for sure.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

How would you compare it to films like SuperBad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I Love You, Man?

Just wondering if it's as funny or light on laughs.

Yeah, its more less a comedy-drama. If your looking for laugh at loud moments, then this film isn't for you.

But it was good for what it is and i understand what the director/writer was trying to do and get across.

 

[TNC9852002]

Yeah, it's like a more straight romantic comedy. There are only a small bit of larger than life characters (i.e., Bill Hader's Jimmy), but yeah, expect a slightly more emotional and toned down kind of comedy.

I was totally exhausted when I saw it, so to me, it was pretty boring at times. Sure, it had laughs here and there, but I dunno.

I suppose was expecting something a bit more special. 7/10

 

[cryptic name]

saw this tonight with my girlfriend, i loved it. i thought everyone was great in it, particularly stewart, eisenberg, and reynolds. the movie did a great job of both evoking the time period and feeling timeless at the same time. most importantly, it felt real, it really captured something about beeing this age and in those situations, of lazy summers with ****** jobs, creating memories you'll never forget. i got the same vibe watching it that i got when i saw Say Anything for the first time. really loved it.

 

[CrypticOne]

I thought this movie was great. Some pretty amazing characters, especially the Rambo kid. 8/10

 

[xisaacx]

I heard it sucked

 

[bullets]

I hate Kristen Stewart. I'll see this on dvd but something bothers me about that girl.

 

[ross2287]

I've heard it's heavy on the drama too. I might wait for a Tuesday matinée.

 

[Catman]

It's a crime that Fast & Furious will open will record box office and this has been practically ignored.

 

[Sawyer]

It's a crime that Fast & Furious will open will record box office and this has been practically ignored.

Seriously. You know, I realize that just about anyone in this country would suck some major d*** for a good car race, but come on...

I thought this was fantastic. It actually felt like it could've been a movie from the eighties.

 

[TNC9852002]

It's not a crime at all. Even if both movies sucked, Adventureland would never make as much money and it's just due to demographics and the genre.

 

[CELTICPRED]

I got to see it today. I enjoyed it a lot. It really did feel like one of those old retro 80 comedies you'd catch on cable now and again, the characters are all well developed, and I never felt the film drag once.

Starr looked like he walked right out of the eighties in the movie. He had the same thick black glasses and haircut my brother had back in that decade.

Loved every second.

And more awesome Bill Hader/Wiig. The eye-patch on the banana was great.

 

[TNC9852002]

The eyepatch on the banana was probably the biggest laugh for me.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

And this wasn't in that many theaters only. 1,500 theaters or so thats all. If you blame someone blame Miramax.

 

[TNC9852002]

Well, it's usually not up to the studio to determine how many theaters it opens up in.

I mean, ultimately, yes it does, but those numbers are determine on expected return on investment and tracking numbers.

 

[Holiday]

Saw this Friday night and really liked it. It was more dramatic than I expected but I lol'ed plenty of times. I thought the performances were good all around. Reynolds was a likable b**tard here, and this was the first time I'd seen Martin Starr in anything since Freaks and Geeks.

 

[Drizzle]

I saw it today. I thought it was good, I was just expecting it to be much funnier. I saw it as kind of like "Dazed and Confused". It looks like a comedy, but it's really just one big coming of age story with a couple of funny characters peppered here and there. Bill Hader was hilarious, but he and Kristen Wiig were underused. All their funny moments were already seen in the trailers and tv spots.

Watching the trailer made me realize something....Jesse Eisenberg has been doing the awkward guy thing LONG before Cera was and Jesse is being ripped off hardcore.

Except Jesse Eisenberg isn't funny.

 

[Episode29]

Greg Motolla’s Adventureland is the most rewarding type of film-going experience: a genuinely funny, heartfelt slice of coming-of-age narrative that sneaks up and lulls you into a blissful state of nostalgic joy, leaving you not only smiling well after you’ve exited the theatre, but also fondly remembering the tumultuous passionate journeys of your own adolescence. The film remembers a time where every night out with your friends promised a magical universe of possibilities and rapturous dreams of finding that one defining romantic partner who would “get” you and see through the immature goofball exterior. Watching Motolla’s sweet reverie of a comedy I found myself not so much transported into the film’s 1987 amusement park setting as awash in the tantalizing memories of a time which, while not long ago, seems to have mysteriously drifted out of my aging grasp.

Set in the sleepy suburbs of Pittsburgh during the latter years of the Reagan era, Adventureland stars The Squid and the Whale’s Jesse Eisenberg as James Brennan, a well-intentioned, funny young man who has just graduated with a degree in English literature - with a focus on the ever valuable Renaissance period - who finds his planned summer in Europe cancelled due to his families economic struggles. Desperate for money to pay his way into New York’s Columbia University journalism Masters program, James, after discovering the uselessness of an English BA (I felt like weeping during these scenes), finds himself with a dead-end job as a games supervisor at the city’s ramshackle, “Rock Me Amadeus”-rotating, amusement park Adventureland. Temporarily friendless, working for peanuts and still packing a V-Card, James glumly prepares himself for a summer of toil and tedium.

Fortunately however, Adventureland staffs an eccentric crew of wage-slaves so memorable that boredom isn’t really an option. There are Bobby and Paulette, the owners of the joint, a deceptively insane married couple played by SNL pros Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, as well as their ruggedly handsome ride mechanic Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds), a moonlighting musician who once legendarily jammed with Lou Reed! Also present are the workplace sexpot Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva), the uber-smart, cynical nerd Joel (Martin Starr) and the... Oh, hold on, who’s that cute, edgy girl behind that game counter over there? James wants to know too. Her name is Em (Twilight’s Kristen Stewart) and she’s a wounded beauty who guarantees to make James’ life a whole lot more interesting. Over the course of these simmering, dreamy days of summer ’87, Motolla unfolds the day-to-day dramas of these character’s lives as we look on with an infectious mix of joy, hope, sadness and a heavy helping of youthful exuberance.

What makes Adventureland a revelatory experience, unlike similarly themed romantic-dramedies aimed at early twenty-somethings (Nick and Norah anyone? Yeah, me neither!), is its unswerving commitment to capturing the human truth within each and every character. Em may be cool, funny and adorable, and an ideal potential lover, but she’s also carrying the weight of the world on her lithe shoulders and not immune to poor judgment. Similarly, Reynold’s Mike is a smooth-talking ladies man, cheating on his wife, who talks big but, at the end of the day, innately realizes that his future prospects are slim to none. A lesser film would have made him the pathetic butt of a joke, but as played by the actor and written by Motolla, he’s a fragile human being just trying to remind himself of a time when the future glowed with promise. Heck, even bubbly Lisa P., goofy Bobby, meek Paulette and cynical Joel are interesting individuals with real emotions and genuine struggles to overcome.

It’s the love story between James and Em, though, which makes Adventureland sing. Not since David Gordon Green’s Snow Angels have I witnessed a teen romance so honest, unconventional and rewarding as the one depicted affectionately here. Motolla remembers that young love is, at the best and worst of times, an exhilarating, frightening, confusing adventure which is as valuable for the passion shared as the accompanying personal revelations and growth. James and Em may not be destined to wind up in wedded bliss, but they’re time together will forever change and strengthen them for the better. That both young actors communicate this chaotic ride so beautifully is a testament to the maturity and quiet intelligence of their performances.

Leaving the film, it was impossible for me not to think of the Em of my own past, and reflect on how that relationship ultimately laid the groundwork for the course I’ve travelled on since. While I truly hope for a brighter future for Adventureland’s two young protagonists, I feel honoured to have been able to follow them and rejoice in their emotional explorations. This is a movie you want to hug and treasure, a tender reminder of time gone by and of those warm summer evenings when the mysteries of the cosmos could be unlocked by a bright smile or an adoring gaze.

4.5 out of 5