Adventureland
This rom-com from the writer-director of Superbad will not give you the same brand of childish debauchery you might expect.

This rom-com from the writer-director of Superbad will not give you the same brand of childish debauchery you might expect.  Director Greg Mottola seems to have grown up, toning his graphic humour down, but without shifting focus from the humanity to be found in the aches and pains of moving from one stage of life to the next.

Twenty-two year old James Bennan, played by relatively unknown indie-actor Jesse Eisenberg, finds his life turning out very differently than he meticulously planned. The somewhat privileged, freshly graduated Brennan’s hopes of a round the world trip are dashed with news of a change in his family’s circumstances. Instead he finds himself working at the bottom of the rung at a low-grade theme park alongside a variety of other unfortunate misfits.

Eisenberg’s charismatic portrayal of the character’s naïve sincerity makes for an endearing story of growing up and learning the realities of earning a buck. It’s not all doom and gloom, the flip side is that strong bonds are made, love found and, with it, the possibility of losing the virginity he has been cherishing until now.  He finds an unlikely match in troubled rebel Em, played by Kristen Steward (Twilight, Into the Wild), the seasoned Adventureland employee with a secret. Add to this equation a sprinkling of lovingly foible-ridden side characters and a pure gold minor role for Dan Bittner as the boss of Adventureland, overall you have a goofy, warm comedy with a realistic and vivid portrayal of what it is to be that age.

While Jesse Eisenberg’s charismatic performance gives the film compelling force throughout, it is impossible to ignore that his character, based on Mottola’s own experiences of growing up are somewhat rose tinted in terms of his sincerity and swiftly adopted fresh wisdom. That is not to say that Adventureland does not make for a witty summer feel good movie, and for that purpose it deserves a watch. That is if you can bear Steward’s portrayal of the injured anti-beauty so reminiscent of her performance in ‘Into the Wild’.

A half-decent mix of retro and fresh tunes lays the backdrop for a cool, quirky comedy without your usual side of cheese. This low effort critique of the absurdity of American middle class values can be taken as a bit of fun for those who like theirs with a dollop of something a bit more intelligent.