What do you get if you cross a (John) Hughesian understanding of the teenage mind with a (Kevin) Smithian sense of adolescent self-worth? (Greg) Mottola’s sorta biographical, wonderfully unassuming and touching ode to summers lost, Adventureland, is what.
It’s the summer of 1987 and the recently dumped James Brennan (the excellent Jesse Eisenberg – Roger Dodger/the upcoming Zombieland) is forced to jack in his hopes of backpacking round Europe with his buddies in order to earn enough money to go to college next term thanks to a sudden downturn in family equity. Unfortunately for him, the only place hiring is the decrepit amusement park Adventureland. Fortunately for him, there’s much more to Adventureland than initially meets the eye.
For starters, the rest of the equally dysfunctional staffers hate their jobs too (“we’re doing the work of pathetic lazy morons”), caring more about getting high and having fun than manning their booths and providing customer contentment. Then there’s cool, older, “need-to-know” cat Connell (the talented Ryan Reynolds) to hang out with and get advice from. But best of all there’s the alluring Em (Hermione Granger lookalike and current object of every teen boy’s affection courtesy of Twilight, Kristen Stewart), the sort of girl that makes the long, tedious, exasperating, endless days worth persevering through. Adventureland was the worst job Brennan could have imagined having… working at Adventureland turns out to be a pivotal time in his life.
A quirky, charming, heartfelt and funny look at teen trials and tribulations, it’s clear that Mottola is a man heavily influenced by John Hughes’ legend: Adventureland is 80s in style, execution and requisite nostalgic soundtrack. A writing and acting showpiece full of witty dialogue, real teen issues and naturalistic performances of real teen types, everyone should find someone to identify with here. There’s the gawky intellectual shy guy (Eisenberg’s Brennan); the damaged rock chick (Stewart’s Em); the uber-nerd that everyone would be lucky to have as a best friend (Martin “Freaks & Geeks” Starr’s Joel); the popular girl (talented new-ish-comer Margarita Levieva’s Lisa P) and the endlessly annoying “joker of the pack” (Matt Bush’s Frigo) among the recognisable collective.
Don’t be mistaken that this is merely a siphoned clone of one of Hughes’ genre classics (Sixteen Candles/The Breakfast Club/Weird Science/Ferris Bueller’s Day Off); Mottola has enough individual talent for that to be an impossibility. Besides, Superbad has already previously shown that he knows how to “do teen”; Adventureland just proves that he’s much more than merely an Apatow director-for-hire. He is a writer/director with a distinct and interesting voice that could do a lot worse than invoke the memory of John Hughes. In fact to be even mentioned in the same breath should be something of a compliment.
[etRating value=“ 4”]
It’s the summer of 1987 and the recently dumped James Brennan (the excellent Jesse Eisenberg – Roger Dodger/the upcoming Zombieland) is forced to jack in his hopes of backpacking round Europe with his buddies in order to earn enough money to go to college next term thanks to a sudden downturn in family equity. Unfortunately for him, the only place hiring is the decrepit amusement park Adventureland. Fortunately for him, there’s much more to Adventureland than initially meets the eye.
For starters, the rest of the equally dysfunctional staffers hate their jobs too (“we’re doing the work of pathetic lazy morons”), caring more about getting high and having fun than manning their booths and providing customer contentment. Then there’s cool, older, “need-to-know” cat Connell (the talented Ryan Reynolds) to hang out with and get advice from. But best of all there’s the alluring Em (Hermione Granger lookalike and current object of every teen boy’s affection courtesy of Twilight, Kristen Stewart), the sort of girl that makes the long, tedious, exasperating, endless days worth persevering through. Adventureland was the worst job Brennan could have imagined having… working at Adventureland turns out to be a pivotal time in his life.
A quirky, charming, heartfelt and funny look at teen trials and tribulations, it’s clear that Mottola is a man heavily influenced by John Hughes’ legend: Adventureland is 80s in style, execution and requisite nostalgic soundtrack. A writing and acting showpiece full of witty dialogue, real teen issues and naturalistic performances of real teen types, everyone should find someone to identify with here. There’s the gawky intellectual shy guy (Eisenberg’s Brennan); the damaged rock chick (Stewart’s Em); the uber-nerd that everyone would be lucky to have as a best friend (Martin “Freaks & Geeks” Starr’s Joel); the popular girl (talented new-ish-comer Margarita Levieva’s Lisa P) and the endlessly annoying “joker of the pack” (Matt Bush’s Frigo) among the recognisable collective.
Don’t be mistaken that this is merely a siphoned clone of one of Hughes’ genre classics (Sixteen Candles/The Breakfast Club/Weird Science/Ferris Bueller’s Day Off); Mottola has enough individual talent for that to be an impossibility. Besides, Superbad has already previously shown that he knows how to “do teen”; Adventureland just proves that he’s much more than merely an Apatow director-for-hire. He is a writer/director with a distinct and interesting voice that could do a lot worse than invoke the memory of John Hughes. In fact to be even mentioned in the same breath should be something of a compliment.
[etRating value=“ 4”]
