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Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg in “Adventureland”Image credit: Miramax Films | Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg in “Adventureland”

Adventureland

by Yvonne Lum – Killarney Secondary, Vancouver BC May 26, 2009

5 stars

Welcome to a roller-coaster ride of adolescent angst.

Rating: 14A
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader

What’s the story?
Recent college graduate James Brennan (Eisenberg) is forced to work as a games attendant at Adventureland, his local amusement park, to pay for grad school in NYC. He meets a handful of wacky co-workers and takes interest in Em (Stewart), a bold but vulnerable girl filled with dark secrets. Set during the summer of 1987, James tries to find himself and prepare for the real world while trying to establish a relationship and deal with work drama.

Why see it?
Writer and director Greg Motolla (Superbad) intertwines inspiration from his own life and his love for Woody Allen into this flick. His attention to detail and subtlety speak volumes. Eisenberg and Stewart (Twilight) radiate as awkward yet witty youth who struggle to find themselves and learn from life’s lessons. Thumbs up to the casting department for managing to gather such great actors to rock each role! Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder, Definitely, Maybe) amuses as a musician and mechanic, as do Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live, Tropic Thunder) as Adventureland’s owners. In addition, the soundtrack is the perfect backdrop to this story.

Problems?
This film took a while to establish the characters and their situations, and at the climax of the movie, there seem to be way too many problems. Also, some viewers may not like the fact that Adventureland is based in the ’80s and makes reference to sex and drugs.

All in all:
Adventureland is reminiscent of all our crappy jobs, summer romances and hectic yet relaxing summers.



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Great Movie for a Chill Night

Submitted by ninakiri on Mon, 11/30/2009 - 12:44.

I agree with you that "Adventureland" is an awesome movie! Although I may not have given it five stars I definitely think it does a great job of touching on the realistic aspects of teenage life especially due to the fact that nowadays lots of teenagers put up with crappy jobs over the summer, just like James ends up doing.

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