Adventureland (2009)

In the summer of 1987, a college grad takes a 'nowhere' job at his local amusement park, only to find it's the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.

Director:

Greg Mottola

Writer:

Greg Mottola

Stars:

Jesse Eisenberg, Kelsey Ford, Kristen Stewart

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jesse Eisenberg	...	James Brennan
Kelsey Ford	...	Arlene
Michael Zegen	...	Eric
Ryan McFarland	...	Brad
Jack Gilpin	...	Mr. Brennan
Wendie Malick	...	Mrs. Brennan
Matt Bush	...	Tommy Frigo
Todd Cioppa	...	Velvet Touch Manager
Stephen Mast	...	Rich
Kristen Wiig	...	Paulette
Bill Hader	...	Bobby
Martin Starr	...	Joel
Adam Kroloff	...	Adult Contestant
Kristen Stewart	...	Em Lewin
Kevin Breznahan	...	Molly Hatchet T-Shirt Guy

Storyline

In 1987, James Brennan's dreams of a summer European tour before studying at an Ivy League school in New York City are ruined after his parents have a severe career setback. As a result, James must get a summer job to cover his upcoming expenses at the decrepit local amusement park, Adventureland, where he falls in love with a witty co-worker, Emily Lewin. In that bizarrely shady workplace, the young carnies have unforgettable and painful learning experiences about life, love and trust while James discovers what he truly values.

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Plot Keywords:

summer | amusement park | love | job | new york city | 

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Taglines:

Long hours. Low pay. High times.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, drug use and sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Adventureland - Job d'été à éviter

Filming Locations:

Beaver, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£210,671 (UK) (11 September 2009)

Gross:

£489,686 (UK) (18 September 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax Films, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, This Is That Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character Em nervously touches/fixes her hair 55 times throughout the course of the movie.

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Goofs

When Bobby is calling the race at the horse game, all of the horses are still at the start and none of them are moving.

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Quotes

Guest: I love what you've done with the house.
Francy: Thank you.
Mr. Lewin: It's clean.
Em Lewin: I thought the house was a lot nicer the way my mum used to have it, it's pretty barfirific if you ask me.
Francy: Is that some kind of joke Emily?
Em Lewin: No, it's not.
Francy: I think you own me an apology right now.
Em Lewin: I don't owe you shit.

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Crazy Credits

A commercial for the Adventureland amusement park can be seen during the end credits.

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Connections

References Centipede (1980)

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Soundtracks

"Satellite of Love"
Written and Performed by Lou Reed
Courtesy of The RCA Records Lable
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

Complex and Moving

'Adventureland' is a melancholy voyage into the grey zone between adolescence and adulthood, school and career, lust and relationships, frivolity and responsibility. That is to say it is not 'Superbad' and that's supergood.

Upon graduating, comparative literature major James Brennan is informed that due to his father's recent demotion (alcoholism is an implied cause), the parents will not be funding his planned and hopefully transformative European vacation. James returns to his parents' Pittsburgh home with virginity and intellectual pretensions intact.

Still planning on attending Columbia Journalism School and needing funds, James seeks summer employment and settles for a job as a game both operator at Adventureland, a local amusement park that has seen better days. He is after all a comp lit major and not even qualified for manual labor.

Of course Adventureland is more than meets the eye. We're introduced to the interior lives of park employees. Extremely powerful performances are provided by Jesse Eisenberg, Martin Starr, Margarita Levieva, Ryan McFarland, and especially Kristen Stewart as James's sort of girlfriend Em.

These are not stock characters (with the exception of the ballbusting Frigo character, put here for childish laughs). The characters are emotionally and behaviorally complex. They wrestle with what it means to be young (or not so young) what it is to be in a relationship, the meaning of sex, employment, violence, drug use, fidelity, intellectualism, relationships with parents and their new spouses, the value of education. In short, what it means to be a person.

To enhance its verisimilitude, the film is mostly set to mid eighties tunes (Expose, The Mary Jane Girls, etc.). These songs are of the mid-eighties, but the film is set in 1987. It's a slight jab at the less than cutting edge nature of Pittsburghian society circa 1987. No matter, the film does not ridicule the zeitgeist. Rather, it takes seriously the emotional resonance of the sex, the music, the clothes, the hair, the ganja, the drinking, and the want to all involved (it was serious) and in so doing achieves poignancy.

The film touched me and not just because I was almost James's age living not too far from Pittsburgh in 1987, but because it addresses what it means to be on the shaky cusp of adulthood in such an honest way. A must see.