From the director of Superbad, Greg Motollo, comes Adventureland, a coming of age comedy drama of sublime genius where games are more than just games and rides are a little bit crazier than they look. It went on general release at the cinemas back in April 2009, but only came out on download, DVD & Blu-Ray on the 8th February 2010. With a perfect cast, great dialogue, clever script and one of the best soundtracks ever, it’s a film that will become a cult classic and a perfect blues/hangover pick up film.
Starring the then little known actor Jesse Eisenberg in the lead role of James Brennan, it follows his nightmare summer as he’s forced to work at cheep and cheesy fun fair called Adventureland to save up for college after he finds out his parents can’t subsidise him or his planned trip to Europe any more. Except, the nightmare turns into a coming of age, love fuelled roller coaster as he gets entangled in a relationship triangle with park hottie, Emily.
Set in 1987 and accompanied by some of the best songs in history – Satellite of Love by Lou Reed, Pale Blue Eyes by the Velvet Underground and Modern Love by David Bowie – it whips you straight back to your own awkward childhood and reminds you that there are a lot of things in life that are worth fighting for. If that isn’t enough to get hooked in then Bill Hader’s tash in the pic above should do the trick.
With Kristen Stewart playing Emily, James’ love interest, superbly and Ryan Reynolds as the park’s handyman and James’ pseudo-sage, Mike Connoll, this is a film that is made up of brilliant performances. Bill Hader (Superbad) plays Adventureland’s crazy assistant manager, and his eccentricities are amplified by Kristen Wiig (Zoolander 2) who plays his dippy wife Paulette, creating some of the film’s best comedy dialogue with understated genius. The baseball bat scene is worth watching the film for all by itself.
High highs melt into dark blues and the movie turns fast, but Adventureland is always fun, has some great songs to accompany the mess that is growing up and delivers a fair few laughs. It’s all rides rides rides rides rides, games games games games games, making it an offbeat comedy classic.
Adventureland review: 4.7/5
