A movie review: Adventureland

I so wish I was a better writer so that I could properly praise this movie, but you are stuck with the following . . .

Adventureland. This is one of those films that while I was watching the movie I found myself enjoying it more and more. I haven’t enjoyed a film this much since Rachel Getting Married. I’m not going to say that this movie deserves an Oscar nomination, because I don’t think it is an Oscar type of movie; but it is a movie well worth watching. (I did believe that Rachel Getting Married was a movie to consider for an Oscar nod.)

I found myself drawn into the movie immediately. It starts out with James (Jesse Eisenberg) getting dumped by his girl of less than two weeks (I won’t call her his girlfriend.) Next, he learns that he won’t get to spend the summer between his college and upcoming graduate school program in Europe due to unexpected financial hardship his family is facing. This one-two body punch got me attached to James immediately, who really didn’t seem like a guy who deserved such horrible luck. James must now find a summer job, his Europe trip a long gone dream. Since he graduated with a liberal arts degree (I believe it was English) and does not have any work experience, he quickly finds out that no one wishes to hire him for the various minimum wage jobs in the area. He eventually lands a job in the barely surviving Adventureland amusement park where only the cheapest prizes can be awarded, because the park really doesn't have enough cash to buy anything other than the cheapest prizes. This is where he runs into Em (Kristen Stewart). She comes to his rescue after he attempts to stand up to some tough guys who cheated their way into winning a giant panda bear. From there, a slow relationship starts to develop between the two that also includes such unfortunate events that moves them apart from each other like wondering eyes and entangling sexual revelations. (This slow build in the relationship is one reason I just love this movie. You know the two characters are meant for each other, but they themselves either don't realize it or run away from it; therefore, finding themselves taking detours along the way.)

Em. I think it is Em’s character that you learn the most about. I was watching At the Movies and I believe I heard one of the critics say that Greg Mottola, the writer, wrote this about his own life experience. It would seem that he had a great fondness for the person in his life that he now calls Em. You learn that her mother died about two years prior to the events in the movie. You also learn that her father wanted to find God during his wife’s illness, but instead found himself in an affair with a woman he married soon after his wife’s death. You learn that she attends a top tier school in NYU, but still has this rebellious trait of not wanting to accept the privileges that result from this (not only does she attend NYU, but her father is a well to do lawyer). She could probably find work at a law firm or for a business client of her father’s, but instead works at Adventureland, which her step-mother finds disgusting. She also makes a serious judgment error by having an affair with a married man who works at Adventureland. She has endearing qualities that draw James to her. She’s the one who came to his rescue. She’s the one who called someone out on their racism. She’s the one who befriended him before anyone else at the amusement park. Of course, a lot of the credit for the character of Em must go to Stewart. In the back end of the movie, when her heart is broken, you can’t help but want to reach into the theater screen and give her a big hug; and all the credit must go to Stewart’s emotional portrayal.

James. For some reason, I have this feeling that even though Greg Mottola wrote this story about his own life experience, I can’t help but feel that he held back in fully revealing his own back story. For example, I felt I actually got to learn more about Em’s own parents better than his own. Yes, you learn that his mother read his diary when he was young, but how much more do you learn about them? In a minute of dialogue from Em, you learn more about Em’s parents than you do about James’ parents throughout the film even though they have more screen time than Em’s. Admittedly, there are certain character traits that you learn about him; such as, his being overly honest with people. And like nearly any guy, when the hottest girl in town asks him out on a date, he risks damaging what he has with Em to go out with her. All in all, I just felt that Em's character was better defined in the movie.

The amusement park. I’ve never worked at an amusement park. I don’t know about the quality of people that work at amusement parks. What I found interesting; however, about this specific amusement park is that it provided some interesting socio economic interactions. This amusement park likely represented the last time that certain groups of people would interact with each other. You had the college educated crowd who in the case of James had some unfortunate luck hit him, which resulted in his working there. You also had others where their life ambitions were never going to go much further than working at an amusement park. An example of this is Mike (Ryan Reynolds), the married man having an affair with Em. Adventureland represents one of those moments in life where two groups of people interact with each other ever so briefly and then if you fast forwarded five years these same individuals would never even cross paths anywhere (even at a grocery store, because they would probably shop in different parts of town), because their life paths would take them on totally different adventures. I even got a feeling that there were moments in the park where the more educated group attempted to distinguish themselves from the others. There was the one scene between Em and James. She said something like, “So I heard you’re heading off to graduate school.” He replied, “Yes, I’m going to attend Columbia for journalism this fall.” Her reply, “I’m going to NYU.” It was a statement that indicated that the two of them were connected by education versus a summer job at an amusement park.

Here’s one major reason why I think I found myself so drawn to this movie: I worked at a summer camp. What does a summer camp have in common with an amusement park? First, there is a major difference. The characteristics of those working at the summer camp were very different from those working at this amusement park. Most of the people at the summer camp were in college so we all had certain ambitions in life similar to James and Em, and not very many with similar backgrounds as Mike. What was similar; however, was that for a short period of time we were like family. Those working at the amusement park organized around making sure that customers had fun on the rides and games. At my summer camp, the summer camp staff organized around making sure campers enjoy their week in the mountains. And during your free time, you hung out with the same group of people. In that limited time frame, you found yourself making fast friends and really having the time of your life. There were even scenes in the movie that reminded me of summer camp. The fireworks scene reminded me of how a bunch of us all planned on taking the 4th of July off so that we could take a road trip down the mountain to see the fireworks. The constant background music of Rock Me Amadeus reminded me of similar cultural themes during my summer camp years. And the raw intellectuality of James, coming into contact with the “real” world struggles reminded me of my years at summer camp, as well. This movie wanted me to go back in time and relive those moments.

At the Movies, gave high praise to Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. In fact, I believe one critic said that they were the saving grace for this movie, which made this movie a must see in the theater versus just a movie you rented. I loved both actors, but I have to disagree with the critic. I think the whole movie revolves around the emotional connection between James and Em. Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg do make the movie.