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Movie Description
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., SUPERBAD's Greg Mottola directs this comedy about a floundering college grad (Jesse Eisenberg) who decides to work at an amusement park when his post-graduation plans fall through. ADVENTURELAND's talented cast includes Kristen Stewart (INTO THE WILD), Ryan Reynolds (DEFINITELY, MAYBE), and KNOCKED UP cast members Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, and Martin Starr.
Industry Reviews
"With a keen affection for his formative years, filmmaker Greg Mottola has crafted a funny and spunky amusement....Eisenberg is perfect as an intelligent and naive grad....Kristen Stewart is similarly sympathetic..."
Hollywood Reporter - Duane Byrge (01/20/2009)
3 stars out of 4 -- "Director Greg Mottola, who made the rather wonderful SUPERBAD, is back now with a sweeter story, more quietly funny....[The actors] make ADVENTURELAND more real and more touching than it may sound."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (03/27/2009)
"[With] a talented cast led by Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart and a potent soundtrack....Engaging, bittersweet and even fun....ADVENTURELAND's recognizable satisfactions feel well earned."
Los Angeles Times - Kenneth Turan (04/03/2009)
"ADVENTURELAND re-creates its era superbly....Eisenberg is excellent....He is a carnival of complex emotions."
USA Today - Claudia Puig (04/03/2009)
"[T]he story of a young man's coming of age never gets old, at least when it is told with the kind of sweetness and intelligence ADVENTURELAND displays."
New York Times - A. O. Scott (04/03/2009)
"Mottola, the director of SUPERBAD, works with rare feeling and flow. He shows every bit as loving and pinpoint-perfect an observational eye for the late '80s as George Lucas did for the end of the greaser era in AMERICAN GRAFFITI." -- Grade: A-
Entertainment Weekly - Owen Gleiberman (04/10/2009)
3 stars out of 5 -- "Poignant, funny and touching....As a snapshot of a particular place, time and sensibility, ADVENTURELAND almost cannot help but succeed -- from the pitch-perfect '80s soundtrack to such gleefully entertaining supporting characters as Margerita Levieva's Lisa P..."
Box Office - Wade Major (04/04/2009)
"[ADVENTURELAND] sets the goofiness of extended adolescence against the sadness of being adrift in the adult world. There's no shortage of felicitous lines or interesting performances..."
Wall Street Journal (04/03/2009)
"Thanks to an exceptionally deft touch, Mottola manages to capture the absurdity and anguish of young adulthood, while never sacrificing meaning on the altar of crude humor."
Washington Post (04/03/2009)
“Stewart proves that her new starpower is grounded in actual acting ability.”
Movieline - Matt McCluskey (04/10/2009)
"The writer-director blends sassy and sad in the style of his 1996 debut, THE DAYTRIPPERS....Eisenberg and Stewart bring delicate emotion to their roles..."
Rolling Stone - Peter Travers (04/16/2009)
"Jesse Eisenberg anchors the film nicely...but FREAKS AND GEEKS' Martin Starr steals the show as his hilariously sardonic booth-mate..."
A.V. Club - A.V. Club (08/26/2009)
4 stars out of 5 -- “Mottola’s period piece is smartly observed, witty and well-acted, with recognisable characters we actually care about.”
Total Film - Total Film Staff (10/01/2009)
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