A funny, touching and honest film about a serious 22-year-old neither embarrassed by nor exulting in his lack of sexual experience.
Adventureland (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:193
Fresh:170
Rotten:23
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: Full of humor and nostalgia, Adventureland is a sweet, insightful coming-of-age comedy that will resonate with teens and adults alike.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for language, drug use and sexual references.
Runtime: 1 min 47 secs
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:11-09-2009
Synopsis: Capturing all at once the wistful emotions of early adulthood, the chaotic freedom of youth, and that uniquely wonderful boredom of summer, Greg Mottola’s coming-of-age comedy, ADVENTURELAND,... Capturing all at once the wistful emotions of early adulthood, the chaotic freedom of youth, and that uniquely wonderful boredom of summer, Greg Mottola’s coming-of-age comedy, ADVENTURELAND, splits the difference between his commercial breakthrough, SUPERBAD, and his underrated debut, THE DAYTRIPPERS. ADVENTURELAND follows recent college grad James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) as he slogs his way through summer as a games attendant at a local amusement park, where he learns about the shady goings-on of the carny’s world and is introduced to an assortment of weirdos, stoners, goons, and other lost souls. Among that last group is the angsty Em (Kristen Stewart), who captures James’s heart despite her involvement with the park bad-boy, a rocker-turned-maintenance-man (Ryan Reynolds) who seduces women with a dubious story about jamming with Lou Reed. Though the movie has its share of vomit scenes and erection jokes, Mottola is surprisingly restrained in his use of gross-out humor (particularly given SUPERBAD’s near Shakespearean vulgarity), with much of the film’s more blatant hilarity coming courtesy of Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig as the park’s completely unhinged yet utterly in love managers. At its core, ADVENTURELAND is really nothing more than a coming-of-age story set in a colorful locale--the monotonous siren call to "Step right up!" compels after-work beer blasts, random make-out sessions, and drunken existential yearning. Yet what in any other film would be played for cheap laughs and easy smiles is here used to conjure the ineffable mystery of a summer romance. Through a mixture of pleasing performances, a nuanced script, and a brilliant soundtrack (featuring the Replacements, Husker Du, David Bowie, and, of course, Lou Reed), Mottola has created a bittersweet delight that will stay with the viewer long after the midway goes dark. [More]
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Kristen Wiig
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Margarita Levieva, Ryan Reynolds, Sue O'Malley, Jack Gilpin, Wendie Malick
Director: Greg Mottola
Director: Greg Mottola
Screenwriter: Greg Mottola
Producer: Anne Carey, Ted Hope, Sidney Kimmel
Studio: Miramax Films
Reviews for Adventureland
Adventureland is reminiscent of indie movies like Breaking Away, Dazed and Confused and Clerks. You could put it another way and say it’s not very original. Yet, watching the movie, you’re too swept up in James’s problems to care.
As a sweet-natured character comedy – and a subtle exercise in generic boundary-pushing – this is a real charmer.
Its gentle charm and effortless eloquence personified by its winning lead, Adventureland is only marred by a rote final reel.
The whole enterprise is infused with a quality of feeling, an integrity, that is rare in such a commercial film.
A tremendously funny and touching coming-of-age story, which he has set in the 1980s with a sprinkling of nicely chosen cultural references.
Like all films that strike a chord, you’ll find yourself replaying your own memories as the credits roll on a comedy that fires the heart.
Some may scoff at Adventureland for sailing too close to a tried and tested story formula, but it's funny, heart-warming and more meandering and whimsical than you'd expect from a mainstream Hollywood comedy.
An Indie romcom which doesn’t pile on the contrived quirkiness and instead concentrates on being believable, smart and sweet.
Wisely, Mottola doesn't try to reinvent the comedy wheel. He's simply taken the plot-free route of Superbad, made the like-for-like swap of Jesse Eisenberg for Michael Cera, upscaled the romance, downsized the slapstick.
One from the heart, a clear-sighted love letter to his own teenage tribulations. Starting out in high spirits then skewing more serious, it’s a funny, poignant, bittersweet treat. Get in line…
A charmingly nostalgic and endearing picture of late-teenhood in the '80s.
Much like its anti-hero, Adventureland is at first too gauchely intelligent for its surroundings, then learns to merge the best of what it is and what it isn’t. Gentle is the new gross, it seems.
It's beautifully written and sensitively acted, it's got a killer soundtrack.
Superbad director Greg Mottola casts an affectionate eye over the 1980s with a gentle but effective comedy.
While this has its longueurs and is not without clichés, it is also a richly enjoyable, witty, well observed piece of nostalgia.
It is a coming-of-age picture which seems not so different from any other but hits delightfully odd notes thanks to Mottola's terrifically smart script and a cast of mostly eager young actors.
Sweet-natured, frequently funny coming-of-age movie with a superb script and delightful comic performances from a terrific ensemble cast.
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