Disney / Buena Vista | 2009 | 107 mins | Rated R
Don’t be fooled by the trailers; despite evidence to the contrary, Adventureland is not Superbad II. Instead, director Greg Mottola has crafted a humorous, rather sweet, coming-of-age story with an emotional edge. Gone is the rampant vulgarity, in its place is a more nuance humor and believable characters. Like Juno, Adventureland is a slice of life comedy but Mottola takes the unusual step of taking the story of high school and placing it in an amusement park, where the main attraction for young James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg, The Squid and the Whale) is a co-worker named Em (Kristen Stewart, Twilight), who also doesn’t seem to fit in with the other employees.
It’s 1987 and the level-headed James Brennan has just graduated from college with a degree in comparative literature and Renaissance studies. After his parents are forced to downsize and abandon their plans to send James to Europe for the summer, he decides he best get a job. He has little choice but to work at Adventureland, a dingy, depressing kind of place, owned by a miserly married couple (Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader). James’ friend and life-long neighbor, Frigo (Matt Bush), has worked there forever. Hyperactive and nerdy, Frigo’s main goal in life seems to be to annoy everyone. He also finds a mentor of sorts in the park’s maintenance man, Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds), a smooth-talking musician and makes new friends with nerdy intellectual Joel (Martin Starr) and sexy ride operator Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva), who takes an odd interest in James.
However, it’s fellow games operator Em that James notices almost immediately. Distant and beautiful, it isn’t long before James is spending every moment he possibly can with her, though she doesn’t always realize it. It’s not until the third act that the two actually talk. The discuss how lousy the amusement park is, how weird the owners are and each other’s future plans; they get to know each other and develop a mutual attraction. While their lives appear to be going in parallel directions, James has no idea how complicated things really are–not only with Em, but in his own life as well.
Adventureland is funny, but not farcical. At its core, this is a film about taking that final step from childhood to adulthood–digging beneath the surface to find out who you really are and who you want to be; finding your limits and having the courage to exceed them. After all, these two are headed off to graduate school and their still being held back by families that insist on making stupid decisions.
In James and Em, Mottola has crafted the perfect couple to tell his story. He’s a wallflower who hasn’t found the right outlet for his intellectual abilities. Behind a lot of pent up anger, Em has a desire to be cared for and wanted. Together, they give each other solace. Apart they amplify each other’s misery. Stewart does a solid job here, but it’s Eisenberg who really impresses. He proves that Michael Cera isn’t the only young actor who can deliver unpolished protagonists.
It’s a shame that Adventureland’s trailers didn’t focus on what the movie was about. I’m sure a lot of fans went into theaters expecting a Superbad redux and never fully recovered when that didn’t happen. That’s a shame really, because the film is a rather understated comedy that’s largely true to life.
Adventureland’s 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer is a bit of a disappointment. Grain is thick and persistent, noise undermines the integrity of nearly every nighttime scene, mild crushing affects the darkest portions of the image and errant print specks pop up throughout the film. However, given its period setting and Mottola’s visual aesthetic, one can’t assume the transfer doesn’t represent the director’s vision. Detail has the crisp textures and natural edges one expects from a high-quality high definition presentation. Colors are washed out and contrast is somewhat hot. fortunately, digital anomalies are nowhere to be found.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack does a good job in creating an ambient atmosphere, except when it comes to the movie’s softly spoken dialogue.
Most of the dialogue seems too quiet and you may find yourself having to turn up your system to hear what the characters are saying. However, the rear speakers make the amusement park come to life with the sounds of bells, whistles, and roller coasters going on around you. The subwoofer is silent for most of the movie, only kicking in during some of the 80s songs that are featured throughout. Since this is a dialogue heavy film, it’s surprising Disney/Buena/Vista didn’t pay more attention to that aspect of things when putting together the audio mix.
The Blu-ray edition of Adventureland includes all of the supplemental content that appears on the standard DVD, a variety of exclusive features and a Digital Copy for viewing on portable devices.
• Audio Commentary: Writer/director Greg Mottola and actor Jesse Eisenberg deliver a low-key commentary that’s rather funny. Sarcasm abounds, but the two share plenty of production details, on-set anecdotes, and information about the film’s tone, music, and casting.
• Just My Life (SD, 17 minutes): This behind-the-scenes featurette explores the genesis of the project, Mottola’s use of real life experience in his screenplay and the actors’ contributions to the film.
• Welcome to Adventureland (SD, 5 minutes): Four amusing VHS-quality commercials, promos and employee orientation videos for Adventureland. (BD Exclusive)
• Frigo’s Ball Taps (HD, 3 minutes): A look at the many methods someone can use to deliver a crushing blow to another person’s manhood. (BD Exclusive)
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 2 minutes): Three deleted scenes titled “Drunk Mom in Office,” “Angry Grandfather,” and “James Keeps Quiet.” Optional commentary bits with Mottola and Eisenberg are available as well.
• Lisa P’s Guide to Style (HD, 2 minutes): Actress Margarita Levieva hosts this in-character overview of ’80s fashion. Skip this one. (BD Exclusive)
• Song Selection: With this easy to use menu, music fans can skip to specific scenes that feature their favorite ’80s songs.
• Digital Copy Disc
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