Movie Review: Adventureland

Finally got around to checking out Adventureland, Greg Motolla's second coming of age movie (first being the endlessly quotable Superbad.) Despite mixed reviews knocking the film for being too heavy on plot and soft on laughs, I loved it.

Jesse Eisenberg continues to develop into a more versatile Michael Cera, playing the obliviously awkward, but cautiously confident brainiac James Brennan. Meanwhile irresistible Kristen Stewart plays his love interest Em with youthful neurosis, but brazen independence. I mean..I even found myself crushing on her a bit. Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, Martin Starr, and Kristin Wiig round out a pretty star-studded cast and do a great job splitting their time between dishing out laughs and portraying the honesty of reality from which James learns most of his life lessons.

The movie's visuals are on point as well...the film is spliced with surprisingly artistic creativity as well as fully submerging itself totally in the culture of the 80s as Dazed in Confused did with the decade prior. From the soundtrack to character's clothing styles, to the teen angst, Mottola surrounds the time period.

The most engaging part of the entire experience has to be the story. Unfolded masterfully, the plot has the audience totally sold on the budding relationship between Eisenberg and Stewart, feeling the pangs of heartache and elation of reciprocation of young love thats so realistically illustrated. Even further, Adventureland captures the perserverent optimism of the age as James responds to his friend Joel's (Martin Starr) story about Herman Mellville's mispelled obituary by saying: "our Herman Melville story that - that's bullshit...he wrote a seven-hundred page allegorical novel about the whaling industry. I think he was a pretty passionate guy, Joel. I hope they call me Henry when I die, too."

Don't go into this movie expecting the gross-out, rolling-on-the-floor laughter of Superbad, but don't sleep on it either. Adventureland is one of the better all-around coming of age movies of recent memory and makes you wanna go back to that shitty summer job all over again for that one girl.

Grade: A-