Adventureland

Adventureland is the latest film from Greg Mottola, who also directed Superbad. Both films are coming of age stories of a sort, although the laughs in Adventureland tend to be on the sarcastic side as opposed to the big "gross out" kind in Superbad. James Brennan, played by Jesse Eisenberg, has the misfortune of working in an crappy amusement park for the summer instead of taking that summer trip to Europe his parents were going to pay for. His dad has just received a big cut in pay, which means that James has to work instead of travel. In case you're wondering, this film takes place in 1987 and not the present. There he meets and falls for Em, played by Kristen Stewart, and also makes friends with the rest of his low paid co-workers. James is the serious intellectual type, probably a little too serious to be working at a place like Adventureland, and it takes him a while to build up the artificial enthusiasm necessary to be a good "game guy" at the park. This film is very sweet at its heart, as it chronicles the various relationships and almost relationships that occur over the summer. The ensemble cast mesh very well, and Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are both hilarious in their small supporting roles. I actually would have liked to see more of Ms. Wiig as she channels her timid soft spoken character from SNL. The film, although not uproarious, is filled with funny stuff throughout, and it also touches on some serious issues as well, such as adultery. If you've ever had a crappy job then this film's for you.

Rating - 3 Stars