Adventureland

I must be getting old when the 80s is a distant memory, and I had so much enjoyment in the nostalgia trip that Adventureland took me on. The movie takes you to the summer of 1987 with mixed tapes, 80’s hair dos, and Gremlins and no cell phones to be found. Jesse Eisenberg plays James, a recent college grad whose plans of going to Europe for the summer are dashed when his family falls on hard times, and he has to save money for graduate school. He ends up in the only job a literature major can find apparently, manning the sleazy midway games at a second rate theme park, Adventureland. There, he falls for the cute Em played by Kristen Stewart who is also have some tough times, and he befriends the gawky cynic Joel (Martin Starr) who as some of the funniest lines in the movie.
I remember seeing the trailer and thinking that this movie was going to be another Superbad, only in a theme park, meaning another rambling vulgar teenage boy journey with the ubiquitous alums from Freaks and Geeks (not that Superbad didn’t have its hilarious moments). Instead with Adventureland we get a real story and main characters who have some depth. Sure there’s some extraneous vulgarity and teen age boy humor (one character likes to punch James in the nuts, don’t get it) but Adventureland is the evolved Superbad – well-worth seeing, especially if your formative years were planted in the 80s like me.
Oh and the sound track is a part of the fun with Husker Du, The Replacements, “Unsatisfied” and Lou Reed, “Satellite of Love”. Of course, the other less cool songs that are burned in my memory too.