Movie summary of Adventureland by Michael The Moviegoer.
ADVENTURELAND = **1/2
“A Bumpy Ride”
Jesse Eisenberg plays a teenager in 1987 who must take a summer job at a cheesey low-budget amusement park to save up for college. There he finds first-love with Kristen Stewart. If that synopsis doesn’t sound exciting to you, then you would be wise to skip this movie. Nothing deeper or of a larger scope happens during the course of this film.
Greg Mottola, director of the hi-testosterone “Superbad”, tones the bathroom humor way down in favor of sweetness and sentimentality. That wouldn’t be so bad if the story had any depth beyond that of a child’s inflatable lawn pool.
There’s nothing really wrong with “Adventureland”. It’s well made and well written, and the actors are all very good. But when you compare it to other nostalgic coming-of-age movies which are considered classics, like “American Graffiti”, it’s easy to see just how disposable this film is. It reminds me of those 70s B-pictures that used to open at… (gasp) …drive-ins.
DVD Watch: I absolutely love Greg Mottola’s feature debut “The Daytrippers”. It’s a fantastic ensemble piece with Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis, Parker Posey, Marcia Gay Harden, Campbell Scott and Liev Schreiber. Davis drags her family along with her on a road trip to discover if her husband (Tucci) is having an affair. Reportedly Woody Allen was such a fan of this film he recruited Mottola for an acting role in “Celebrity”.
Michael The Moviegoer
