By Christopher J. Robinson and BA Roof
Compared to our last experience, last night’s screening of Adventureland was a bit more subdued. No dancers, no loud MCs, no blow-up guitar challenges, no previews. Just straight in to the feature. The theaters at Phipps Plaza are a bit smaller, but seemed the perfect size for the attending crowd and their smorgasbord of food court dinners (which for some reason the AMC staff allowed everyone to bring in). Given that the R and R were perfectly in tune with their thoughts on this movie, we have decided to present the world with our first ever combined review. Hold on to your seats and enjoy.
The tagline for Adventureland was “that it was the worst job that they imagined and the best time of their lives”. After viewing the movie, we can only conclude that both of those statements are somewhat incorrect. Superbad director Greg Mottola brings us the semi-autobiographical story of recent college graduate James Brennen, played by Jesse Eisenberg (Squid and the Whale) trying to earn some extra money during the summer of 1987. Eisenberg’s nervous and awkward delivery is reminiscent of Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Juno) and seems to be the new cliché method for off-beat comedy leads, yet he pulled off this bit about as well and funny as anyone. The movie opens with James’ parents informing him, at his graduation dinner no less that his dad was reassigned and they could no longer afford James traveling throughout Europe all summer. Because of the low funds, James is also forced to find a job to pay for grad school at Columbia in the fall. Eisenberg is fantastic playing overly intellectual James stumbling through job interviews and informing everybody of his literary skills and virginity. In the end, the only place that will hire such a special guy is the rundown summer amusement park Adventureland.
This movie was not at all what we expected from writer/director Mottola. Superbad was one of those constantly laughing crude comedies where there was always a great line or vomit coming out of a character’s mouth. In contrast, Adventureland often tries to explore the deeper and darker sides of these young adults and their struggles while interlacing some truly hilarious scenes. Such as James’ dream of attending Columbia being tossed away like customers' money on all the rigged games at Adventurland, or deeply depressed Em Lewin, played by Kristen Stewart (Into the Wild, Twilight), struggling with her mother’s death and father’s choice in a new bald bride. The balance between the characters’ real life struggles set against the comedy of life working at a rundown third world amusement park is well received. While in real life these amusement parks typically assemble a wide range of interesting (okay weird) characters, Mottola is able to present the typical stereotypes while simultaneously attaching a human element we can all relate to from some point in our lives. Or, maybe it’s because one of the R’s has college-break amusement park experience. Who knows?
Great performances were given by Eisenberg, Hader, and Wigg, but it was Kristin Stewart that outshined the rest of the cast. She gave a raw and pure performance while playing the role of diamond in the carnie rough perfectly. It was easy to become sympathetic towards Em, torn between physical attraction and nerd-love. While the movie was interesting to watch, there were some things we just could not ignore. It was impossible to wrap our minds around the idea that many of these characters were supposed college graduate aged. We kept imagining many of them in high school or in their earlier college years, mostly because of their immaturity and seemingly prepubescent bodies. This problem probably arose from some of the writing, but throughout the film we found ourselves uncomfortable with the fact that they were buying alcoholic beverages in bars and had to remind ourselves that they were over 21. Additionally, Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder, Definitely, Maybe) should not have been cast for his role as Mike Connell. He looked out of place as the mechanic-rock-star wannabe. Not sure if it was his looks, acting or the writing, but it didn’t quite work. He dressed too well and was too clean cut for working as the tilt-a-whirl mechanic. What did work, though, was how Mottola used Bill Hader (SNL, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Kristen Wiig (SNL) as Bobby and Paulette, the carnie managers. They were used sparingly in the movie, which made their antics and lines hilarious and memorable throughout.
Although the movie struggles at times between being a drama and a comedy, with some of the writing a little misplaced, we felt overall Adventureland delivered. We must warn our readers not to expect a Superbad 2 when going to watch this one. Adventureland has similarities more akin to a serious coming-of-age flick while using the comedy of a second rate amusement park as the setting. We believe these characters would agree that while the job had its downsides, who could not love having almost zero responsibilities during the summer, the opportunity to party most nights and get paid for it all (and one R in particular is not trying to justify his amusement park experience)? With Yo La Tengo providing the tunes and obscure literary references throughout, Adventureland should draw both the indie crowd and the Apatow-style comedy followers. All in all, the R and R Review recommends catching this flick but don’t be surprised if in the end you somewhat envy the lives of all these carnies. The R and R gives Adventureland a Spork Rating of:
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