Adventureland (2009)

Directed by: Greg Mottola
Written by: Greg Mottola

Every geek boy has a dream as he’s growing up. He dreams of meeting an incredibly beautiful girl who, although possibly more experienced than us, is just as geeky as us…or is at least willing to learn to be geeky. And, of course, this is the girl that we will lose our virginity to.

For most of us, this is not how life works out. In fact, I would say that about 90 percent of us don’t have this life. That’s why it’s always fun to see it in movies.

James (Jesse Eisenberg) is just such a geek boy. He has just graduated from college and is about to go on a European trip with his best friend. Unfortunately, his dad gets repositioned at work and is now making less money. This means no money for Europe and, even worse, no money for grad school. So James has to work at Adventureland, the local sleazy amusement park.

That’s where he meets Em (Kristen Stewart). She’s pretty much the girl of his dreams and, after seeing this movie, I can see why. She’s a bit of a Cure-fan type, but it only serves to make her more mysterious and…kinda amazing.

There are a lot of supporting players here, such as the owners of the park (Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig); Connell (Ryan Reynolds), the repairman that all the girls want and all the guys want to be like; Frigo (Matt Bush) who punches James in the balls every chance he gets; Joel (Martin Starr), who wants to be a writer, but is too lazy to do it; and, of course, Lisa P (Margarita Levieva), the girl all the guys want and all the girls want to hate. But, even though each of these characters is made completely human by their performers and writer/director Greg Mottola, this is Jesse and Kristen’s movie. Their romantic back and forth is the backbone of the story and so heartfelt that it’s hard to deny.

Something that I think probably surprised a lot of people is that this is NOT a laugh-a-second comedy. It’s really more of a comedy drama. Sure, it’s hilarious at times, but there are no gross-out moments (unless a tiny bit of puke us REALLY gross to you) and there are no completely outlandish moments. This is reality and it’s funny.

The only part that I didn’t believe at all was that James was wanted by two women. Guys like James were NOT popular in the 80s when the film takes place. Lisa P would have had no interest in him at all. I think Em was even pushing the believability, but I’ll allow it because, without that stretch, there would be no movie. But, seriously. Geeks didn’t become hot until the mid to late 90s. By then, James would have been grown up, met some frumpy chick that he didn’t truly love and been stuck in a loveless, sexless marriage for the rest of his life.

But that wouldn’t make such a great movie.

Adventureland as a place wasn’t quite the character that I really wanted it to be. Sure, there was a lot of funny stuff happening because of where they were, but this movie really could have taken place anywhere.

And maybe that’s part of its charm. Even with this crazy place and the crazy people (and the owners truly are crazy), this is a pretty universal story that I think everyone can relate to.