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Uptown Magazine - Winnipeg's Online Source for Arts, Entertainment & News

April 2, 2009


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2009-04-02

A drama dressed as a comedy

Adventureland is a bittersweet and captivating portrait of young adulthood

ADVENTURELAND
Opening Friday

Lovingly set in 1987, Adventureland is a bittersweet relationship drama with uncouth fringe characters serving as the only reminder that this sombre film was directed by the same man as the foul-mouthed, slapsticky smash Superbad.

James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) is a perpetually broken-hearted virgin who can only count his academic life as being on track - that is, until his father is demoted at work, and a trip to Europe and grad school tuition at Columbia must be paid out of the twentysomething's own pockets.

James reluctantly joins the workforce as a mindless games attendant at the local fun park of the title. Away from university, he embarks on a summer of maturing and falls for Em Lewin (Kristin Stewart), a movie-perfect girl with slender good looks and impeccably hip taste.

Directed and written by Greg Mottola, Adventureland marks the first time that the filmmaker behind the invigorating originality of 1996's The Daytrippers has been able to get one of his own projects green-lit.

Dripping with earnestness, Mottola's carved out a captivating portrait of young adulthood. His ear for wise musical selection (songs by The Replacements bookend the picture; Lou Reed's an integral figure, whether it's the cover of Transformer on Em's T-shirt, the soundtrack, or the centerpiece of a false story) is particularly striking.

Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale) may strike some as a slightly older, shaggier Michael Cera with a noticeably similar style of line delivery, but he's decidedly less trendy and uneasy with this generation, making him a natural fit for a film set in the late '80s.

Stewart (Twilight) is also well-cast as the attractive enigma for James; while not a knockout, she's the very image of undefined young womanhood: wise beyond her years, but still erratic in her decision-making.

Character bits involving harmless pranks, including testicle-punching and window-pissing, are the only moments of unruliness; co-starring in choice characterizations are Bill Hader, Kristin Wiig, Freaks and Geeks' Martin Starr and Ryan Reynolds.

Perennial 1980s supporting face Jack Gilpin as James' father makes the most out of a small role, subtly handling his disappointment in his job demotion with quiet aplomb.
— Aaron Graham

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