Adventureland

Adventureland is another story about lost white middle class kids. Jesse Eisenberg graduates from college and his summer plans are shot down by his parents that can’t support him so he has to find a job until going to graduate school. He finds out a degree in literature can’t get him work anywhere except at the local amusement park Adventureland. The story centers around whether Eisenberg can find happiness.The movie focuses upon Eisenberg and the other people at the park working at their dead end job for the summer, making relationships, going to parties, dealing with customers, etc. Eisenberg for instance is forced to handover a giant stuffed panda under threat of being knifed at the park. Of course he also meets a girl Kristen Stewart but she’s complicated and troubled and they run into problems. The stories are good and engaging and of course Eisenberg plays his part like the underdog. At the same time the characters’ problems aren’t that big. Eisenberg after all is going to Columbia University for graduate school and Stewart’s dad is a lawyer so having a difficult summer love affair is about the biggest issue they’re going to have. Finding themselves during the summer seems like a blip in the road for them.C

If you've ever had conspiracy theories about the games at amusement parks, here's the proof for pretty much every single one of them...they're all rigged. But besides proving that theory right and probably resulting in me being banned from all amusement parks and their games from here on out, this is a good film. It's actually based on a theme park on Long Island, though it was filmed in Pennsylvania because the actual park had changed so much from the 1980s era that we see in the film. I do agree with that location choice, but I do wish they could have filmed in the actual Adventureland. But I blame that park's owners for changing everything so much...again, I'm probably now banned for life. Anyway, this film was filled with a cast of characters who, while trying to find their way in life, work at this amusement park, amusingly run by Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader (seriously, this couple is just fun to watch, even if they are not the main characters.) The film's diologue was, for the most part, witty and entertaining, making it feel almost like real life. I did think that Jesse Eisenberg's character (our leading man) ranged from being whiny to goody-goody...all annoying traits in my book. Yes, your life isn't going the way you nessessarily want it to...that doesn't mean you have to constantly complain about it or speak in a way that just puts you so far out of touch with everyone else. The only scene of his that I really enjoyed was when he worked at the horse-racing game. Thank God Kristen Stewart was there to straighten him out for the rest of the film...or at least she tried. But Ms. Stewart delivered a performance worth watching and I say that in large part to the fact that she whined only when it was really called for. While she takes the prize of playing my favorite female character in the film, Martin Starr plays my favorite male character. Mr. Starr's character of Joel delivers that witty banter that comes about even when the speaker isn't trying to be witty, a perfect trait for this film. Maybe there should be a sequel/spinoff about him...Sorry, I don't have the cash for it or I'd totally make that happen. This film is a comedy and strives to be nothing else...and I'm just fine with that. It delivers great jokes laced across a good plot with a great setting. It's definetly worth this five-star rating. Enjoy.

Interesting slice of life wherein some young folks strive to achieve adulthood in various ways...including populating the staff of a well worn amusement park. This is one of those flicks I can watch several times over the years and continue to enjoy it. The setting in the aging park is so appealing, and the entangling relationships at the edge of balancing teen years and soon to be adult years are aptly balanced. Great cast in this effort.

You could create a 'Kristen Stewart Drinking Game' based upon every time she runs her hand threw her hair and brushes it back in this movie. And you did so, you would be plastered within no time at all.Adventureland is the rare film set in the 80's that gets it right. Instead of creating a film where the 80's jokes are forced and the 4th wall is broken for cheap laughs, the end result is a film that just happens to be set in the 80's rather than a film that forces you back into the decade of pastel kicking and screaming. Here you have a coming of age story that most of us can relate to, regardless of what decade we grew up in, that is a successful film on the whole. Everyone will recognize the Adventureland amusement park as standing in for the local version they grew up with, and many of the characters will remind the viewer of people they grew up with.This is perhaps Kristen Stewart's best performance in a film to date. Here she shows that given the right materials and actors to work with, she is capable of pulling off a good performance. Stewart is no different from any other actor. Sometimes she is the victim of weak material (Twilight) or otherwise puts in a poor performance (Snow White and the Huntsman).Ryan Reynolds does a good of playing the cool older friend, who has a bit of manipulation and deceit in him. A pre-Bridesmaids Kristen Wiig has a nice smaller role. Jesse Eisenberg basically plays himself.Adventureland is a film that will evolve in the near future into cult status, if it is not already there. It may be a bit of a stretch to say that it is the 'Dazed and Confused' of the 2000's, but it is close. 'Games, Games, Games' tshirts are available on the web.Minutes after you watch Adventureland you will be asking yourself 'Wasn't that guy the nerd from Freaks and Geeks?'

Jessie Eisenberg was excellent in Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland, and in Richard Ayoade’s sublime adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s The Double. In this 2009 comedy drama from Greg Mottola, Eisenberg plays aspirational college graduate James, whose parents’ sudden drop in fortunes leaves him financially unable to head off to New York to take a Journalism degree at ‘Grad school’. Instead, James takes a summer job at the titular amusement park in his home town of Pittsburgh, and quickly meets a host of quirky characters, including Kristen Stewart’s enigmatic Emily (for whom James quickly falls), his childhood buddy Tommy, outsider Joel, and part-time musician Mike (Ryan Reynolds), who also works as the park’s technician, as well as serving as local heartthrob, despite his being already married.The movie is obviously intended as a kind of rites-of-passage teen/young adult black comedy, but aside from some pathos (provided by the poor yet intellectual Joel), there is very little in the way of audience investment in characters, and the humour is extremely hit and miss. Park assistant manager Bobby (a moustachioed Bill Hader), and his limpet-like wife Paulette (the actual manager), arguably provide the best comic moments, but overall this is a somewhat unsatisfying affair, and has little to make it stand out from the crowd.

This film should win the "Most Misleading Trailer" Award. The trailer makes it seem like it will be a gross-out comedy like "Superbad" or "Knocked Up", but the film itself is actually a sweet and insightful look into growing up and the constant humiliations that seem to come out of nowhere. Jesse Eisenberg is perfectly cast as James Brennan, who is looking forward to spending a summer in Europe so he can get rid of his virginity and then going to graduate school to study journalism. Unfortunately, this plan is scuppered when his parents tell him that his father has lost his job and not only is the trip to Europe out of the window, he needs to get a job in order to fund his future studies. With no job experience except working on a student newspaper, James ends up at the only summer job that will take him: a rundown theme park (the Adventureland of the title). The film then follows him learning to cope with his new job and his growing feelings for a fellow worker, Emily, as well as their mutual misunderstanding and his attempts to help her with her own problems. There are some crude moments, but they never overwhelm the storyline and I found myself getting very attached to the characters. Recommended.

This is an unexpected film from Judd Appatow's filmography: directors and actors come from his factory but, this time, the usual funny and genuine comical stuff turns into a bittersweet tale of dreams, desires and living on the edge of town feelings. It is more realistic but with a more creative and introspective touch than other Appatow's films. All the cast work, especially Eisenberg who is, btw, always the same character repeated in different films, because he acts like that and maybe only Fincher was so smart to take him as he is and make it a little more ambiguous to let him play the role of Facebook inventor. It is like Appatow's American Graffity

Jesse's poetic face is memory magic for a nostalgic ride but Hader and on-screen wife have the last laugh. Realistic run but a bit tiresome dialog more meaningful to chronologically younger viewers than only the young-at-heart. Still I wish I could give it 4 stars for a trip down memory lane eating cotton candy with the carnies at Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh, PA but can't because there's less adventure than I remember in this flimland. But there is better acting and script in my estimation than the farcicle play on facebook called The Social Network which I rented but probably won't buy. Am looking forward, although, at seeing more somber Jesse Eisenberg talent lampooned by Harrelsen in Zombieland. Have a feeling he's getting more poetic frame-by-frame.

I like this film, but it will probably not appeal to everyone as the story is a little Americanised, it's a good story about relationships though and quite well acted.Worth watching and I have added it to my permanent collection, I would recommend this movie if you like laid back American relationship dramas with a small amount of comedy thrown in for good measure.