It’s 1987, and life working at Pittsburgh’s rundown amusement park Adventureland is not entirely shits and giggles. Sure, you may get a few minutes to longingly gaze at your nymph of a coworker shaking her moneymaker to Rock Me Amadeus, but that’s only in-between soaking up corn dog vomit, or nearly being knifed by a hillbilly who really wants a free sawdust stuffed teddy-bear. Not exactly the best place to kill a summer by any stretch of the imagination, but it is the perfect setting for Greg Mottola’s much anticipated follow-up to the hilarious smash hit Superbad. And while both films may tell the story of young virgins awkwardly sorting out their rite of passage, you’d probably be surprised at just how very different they actually are (even if Adventureland‘s marketing team would prefer you believe otherwise). This time around, Mottola sacrifices a steady stream of belly-laughs for the sake of his heartfelt yarn, and it’s a risk that should pay off with anyone looking for a better reason to visit the cinema than to watch Vin Diesel smashing his rice-burner into a guardrail for two hours.
While Adventureland isn’t overly shy with its Reagan era nostalgia (including the incredible soundtrack that covers everything from Hüsker Dü to Crowded House), the tale it tells is timeless enough to appeal to anyone of drinking age, regardless of whether you grew up on A-ha or *NSYNC (assuming you could actually live with yourself after growing up on *NSYNC). The script is loosely based on Mottola’s own coming of age (also spent working at an amusement park), and though it battles with a fair bit of predictability along the way, its thoughtfulness and charm overcome the occasional cliches with remarkable ease. There’s also something downright refreshing about a story that leaves even its so-called villains with a healthy amount of dignity intact, particularly when comedies of this ilk are normally too busy cranking out the masturbation jokes to worry about whether their characters are anything short of three dimensions. In fact, Adventureland absolutely loves its characters, including the aging, washed-up musician who enjoys seducing teenage girls when he’s not busy tuning up the bumper cars (you know, the kind of guy most screenplays would happily throw to the wolves). It almost goes without saying that this motley crew is brought to life thanks in no small part to the rock-solid cast, together with the two young leads, Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart (we’ll consider this penance for her work on Twilight), who come across equal parts flawed and likable. And when a film so effortlessly makes you like characters that don’t even like themselves, you know it’s doing something right. Damn right.
Sorry. No data so far.
-->
That was the girl from Twilight? I’m glad I didn’t see that or it may have ruined Adventureland for me.
THIS SOUNDTRACK IS AWESOME!
I dug this movie. Sweet Review Alan!