“Adventureland” Review

Eisenberg (left) and Stewart (right) play off each other well in Adventureland

With the release of his newest film Adventureland, Superbad director Greg Mottola continues his run of funny, agreeable mainstream comedies with a surprising amount of depth to them as well. Just like Superbad turned out to be uncommonly insightful about male friendships and their use of the three words “I love you,” there’s more to Adventureland beyond the corn dogs and crotch-punching (although those comprise some of the best parts as well).

Admittedly, this film seems more obviously personal than Superbad, with the heart of the film being a romance story. After James’ (Jesse Eisenberg) parents run into financial trouble, he is forced to cancel a post-college graduation trip to Europe, and possibly his planned move to New York. He ends up working in the Games section of the Adventureland amusement park, where he meets indie-rock girl Em (Kristen Stewart), makes her a mixtape and staggers through a summer crush.

It’s important to note that nearly all of the main characters are college-aged rather than within the high school surroundings of Superbad, with James just about to enter graduate school. Sometimes this concept stretches belief (Do all college students and alumni still live in their parents’ houses?), but it does place the characters’ circumstances in a different, slightly unhappier context.

While all the protagonists of Superbad had to lose was waiting until college to lose their “scarlet V” and possibly an unpleasant bus ride home, the stakes are higher for the cast of Adventureland. They are twenty-somethings who should have their lives reasonably together, yet the greatest constant in their existences remains a summer job at an amusement park – among their other troubles. Even the ditzy Rides girl who dances unironically to Falco’s “Rock Me Amadeus” has to work in order to pay for her father’s injury.

Ryan Reynolds plays an older mechanic for the park, but his life is no less problematic, as he resists a life of faithful domesticity with his wife. The manager couple of Adventureland (played by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) at least both seem to be content for the film’s entire running length. Then again, Hader’s character also has a mustache in this movie, and it is a well-known scientific fact that mustaches bring stability.

Speaking of stability, there’s the movie’s consistently great soundtrack. Among the film’s best surprises was to hear a Husker Du song, and the also excellent The Replacements play a fairly prominent role in Adventureland’s music. I always thought “Unsatisfied” in particular was begging to be put onto celluloid somewhere, and I’m glad it ended up in a reasonably good movie like this one. On top of all that, the band Yo La Tengo is responsible for the film’s score.

Finally, the acting is also strong. Jesse Eisenberg plays a far more likable character here than his The Squid and the Whale counterpart, and both Kristen Stewart and he act capably enough here to forgive some of the contrivances in the plot of their relationship. I’m grateful too that Martin Starr, who was in the great, short-lived television show Freaks and Geeks and is just a generally hilarious guy, has a fairly large supporting role in this movie. He plays Joel, James’ sarcastic, intellectual Games co-worker whose idea of a come-on is giving his object of affection a book by Russian author Gogol- and his scenes belong in the film’s highlights. The personalities of these three characters are not unlike Adventureland itself- imperfect, but also witty and affable enough to overlook any negative traits. Adventureland definitely warrants a recommendation. -Jimmy Geurts