Adventureland (Miramax Films)
There Is No Adventure In Adventureland
Adventureland is a self indulgent, boring look at one mans summer job. Writer/director Gregg Mottola takes us back to 1987 for a look at how someone like him might have spent his summer as a worker at a rundown amusement park. It probably has all kind of meaning for Mottola but for general audiences it is just a big waste of time.
James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) is a college graduate with plans to live in Europe for a summer before starting grad school in New York. Those plans are shattered when his parents (Wendie Malick and Jack Gilpin) break the news they have had a reversal in finances so he will have to get a job. Sadly the only job James, a college graduate, can get is as a game operator at Adventureland Amusement Park.
During this summer of fun he meets a co-worker named Em (Kristen Stewart) and falls for her. The only problem is that she has a secret boyfriend, the married repairman named Connell (Ryan Reynolds). James is unaware of this attachment so he pursues Em with hearty fervor.
The problem with the movie is that James is such a doofus that you can never imagine a girl like Em wanting to spend any time with him. As a college graduate he is totally awkward in the smallest of social situations. Em on the other hand exudes cool and confidence.
Eisenberg appears to be playing James just as the character is written, so the faults of believability lie with the writer and not him. Still the character of James comes off as a fifteen year old rather than a twenty-one year old.
Stewart has the angsty heroine down to perfection. Her film name could easily be Bella and all the Twilight addicts would know exactly how she was going to act in this movie. There is nothing new here, just the same old same old.
The only character in the film with potential is Connell, and Reynolds isnt given enough screen time to develop him. Reynolds looks and acts like a movie star and you expect his character to be more fleshed out but he isnt.
The movie is rated R for profanity and mild violence.
About half way through the movie it dawns on you that you just dont really care what happens to these characters. They are just pot-smoking, alcohol guzzling losers who dont have a clue about life or love. So if they dont care what happens, why should we
There is no adventure in Adventureland, or much of anything else. There is talent on screen but the writing and the lack of character development sinks this ship of fools.
I scored Adventureland a nowhereland 4 out of 10.
