Adventureland [M]

Uptight and over-educated college graduate, James Brennan, cannot wait to go to Europe and get a taste of “real-adult life”. But his plans are dramatically upended when his family suffers from a financial downturn. So instead of the artistic and cultural lures of Paris or Vienna, next stop for James is Adventureland, where he becomes saddled with a crappy, minimum-wage summer job. But whilst the work sucks, James gains a few insights into life, love, and friendship and has a few experiences just as good as any abroad. 

Yeah, so I saw this film a while ago when it first came out on DVD and thought it was rather nice, but mediocre. Watching it a second time, although it holds more sway because of my newly developed “thing” for Jesse Eisenberg, I still maintain that it is a nice movie, worth watching at any rate, but to be sure, it’s nothing overly magic. 

Uptight and over-educated college graduate, James Brennan, cannot wait to go to Europe and get a taste of “real-adult life”. But his plans are dramatically upended when his family suffers from a financial downturn. So instead of the artistic and cultural lures of Paris or Vienna, next stop for James is Adventureland where he becomes saddled with a crappy, minimum-wage summer job. But whilst the work sucks, James gets a few important insights into love, life, and friendship and has a few experiences of a different kind, but equally as good as any abroad. 

I think the best way to describe this movie is fine, nice, those sorts of plain words with long “I” vowel sounds. The story is fairly sturdy with a few dramatic twists and turns and it was just a generally good portrayal of that uncertain teen stage between school and the real world. The gaining experiences, the saving money, planning the next move and such was shown very well, which gives the film a good sense of realism with everything seeming really natural; performances, script, everything. 

The romantic leads of Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart were great as each represented a character that I’m sure everyone knows in their lives. Jesse, the charming, vulnerable, sweet, and well-intentioned guy that gets exposed to the rougher side of life, and Kristen the genuinely cool and don’t-give-a-shit girl who just seems to saunter neutrally through, although underneath, she has a rougher side. Like Eagle Vs. Shark, the romance was sort of played-down and sometimes awkward, only not as funny and awkward as the aforementioned film. 

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Jack Gilpin, Wendie Malick, Matt Bush, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Martin Starr, Margareta Levieva, and Ryan Reynolds, Adventureland is a nice little film that’s filled with a crappy job, memorable characters, romance, comedy, and a great soundtrack featuring Crowded House, David Bowie, INXS, the Cure, and Lou Reed. It’s nothing overly special, but it’s worth watching as a bit of simple and relaxing brain candy.