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'Adventureland': A cotton-candy comedy
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Jesse Eisenberg woos Kristen Stewart in 'Adventureland'
Adventureland
Rating: *** (out of five)
Anyone going to see “Adventureland” and hoping that it will be some kind of “Superbad 2” is going to be sorely disappointed. Yes, the new movie is directed by Greg Mottola, the gifted comedy director who made his breakthrough with 2007’s “Superbad. “ And yes, “Adventureland” is also full of characters stuck in that netherland between childhood and adulthood and dealing with all the awkwardness that comes with the transition.
But where “Superbad” was wonderfully raunchy and coarse, “Adventureland,” which Mottola wrote and directed, is sweet and almost introspective. The movie doesn’t have the belly laughs of its predecessor, but it’s not going for those; it’s content to make you chuckle. Nothing wrong with that.
Arbitrarily set in 1987 – for seemingly no other reason than to showcase a soundtrack of bad hair-band tunes – the story revolves around James (Jesse Eisenberg) who has just graduated college and looks forward to a summer in Europe before grad school in New York City. That plan goes awry when his dad tells him he just got a demotion (hey! 1987 was just like today!) and can’t afford the Europe trip.
Stuck at home for the summer, James trudges over to apply for a job at the local amusement park. The crew at the park is a predictably loony bunch, from the husband-wife park managers (SNL’s Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) who peg him as a “games guy” right away to his boyhood friend Frigo (Matt Bush) who gets the more glamorous gig working the rides and who usually greets James with a friendly punch to the crotch.
Then there’s Em (Twilight star Kristen Stewart) the cute girl who works the next game over. James falls for Em pretty quickly, but there are complications due to her relationship with the creepy maintenance guy named Connell (Ryan Reynolds). Connell totes a guitar around the park, is way too old to be working at Adventureland, and tells everyone he once played a gig with Lou Reed. Too bad he doesn’t know the names of any Lou Reed tunes.
It turns into a gawky little love story, and Eisenberg delivers more than a few nice moments – though it’s hard to not see a lot of Michael Cera in his stammering, unsure line readings. Maybe Mottola’s old Superbad buddy was booked. Come to think of it, the sometimes-sleepy proceedings could have used a jolt of Jonah Hill, too, just to liven things up a bit. The 1980s setting and the clearly personal tone of the film make it feel almost like a Mottola memoir, so if it’s a bit self-indulgent, well, I say the guy earned it with Superbad (not to mention his efforts on TV’s “Arrested Development”).
As a comedy, Adventureland stays strictly on the games side of the amusement park, happily ambling along with no real dips or climbs. For some, that’s enough, but I hope Mottola gets back over to the thrill rides soon.
Here's the Adventureland trailer:
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