Westside Steve Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Adventureland Miramax R 106 min I’ve griped before about studios that run big ad campaigns promising a far different moving picture than what you get after you buy a ticket. (Hmmmmm sounds like politics) That’s what’s happened with ADVENTURELAND. It seemed as though it was to be a kind of morph between madcap summer antics from MEATBALLS with a heavy dose of gross out humor from the SOMETHING ABOUT MARY wing. Nope. Those elements are there, no doubt, but I (at least) was glad to see that it was a minor part though every instance seems to have been put into the trailer. Actually this is an often-moving coming of age love story, more akin to the John Hughes films of the 80s than today’s Farrely Brothers. James (Jesse Eisenberg) is planning on a fun filled romp through Europe before taking off to Columbia school of journalism when the parents’ financial situation hits a snag. Now not only is the trip out of the question but worse yet the prospect of a summer job looms large. To his chagrin the bookish introvert finds that his lack of job experience leaves him with only one option; the seedy local amusement park named ADVENTURELAND. There he meets up with a selection of nerds, hotties, braggarts and wacky management personnel common to films of this nature. Most importantly he meets Em (Kristin Stewart) a pretty young woman trapped in an unfulfilling relationship and misunderstood (like everybody else) by her parents. Keep in mind that grownups are always idiots in these flicks. You remember your younger days don’t ya? That’s the thrust of this one. As the shy James has been recently dumped he’s as nervous about bonding with Em as she is with him. The missteps along the way are well scripted and easily empathized with. Most of us recall the nervous first forays down the highway of the heart. James and Em’s story resolves itself satisfactorily as do the rest of the sub plots but I admit I was wondering which of two possible ways it would turn out. The goofball humor was funny enough and thankfully used sparingly and the romance? Well, it was something we can all relate to. I actually liked all the characters, even the “bad guy” who isn’t really evil, just insecure and flawed like the rest of us. Just don’t be too disappointed if you were expecting more genitalia stuck in zippers or pies. B+ WSS westsidesteve@aol.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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