Adventureland

Copyright 2009, Miramax Films

As I talked about on the recent A-List at Box Office Prophets (which I know you've read, right? Right?), the coming-of-age movie is a common cinematic trope, one that will never die as long as there are a few films every few years that don't drop the ball on the classic predecessors like Say Anything... or Stand By Me. Who knows if there will be more in 2009, but Greg Mottola's Adventureland will definitely keep the coming-of-age genre afloat. Starring Jesse Eisenberg (who now has to fight Michael Cera in a cage match for the Awkward Actor award, I think), Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig, this is a charming comedy-drama with enough realism, enough true-to-life situations, that you can't help but be won over.

Eisenberg is James Brennan, who's just graduated with a bachelor's degree in comparative literature and is hoping to go to Columbia to study journalism in graduate school. When his dad gets a pay cut, however, James is left with no option for his summer in Pittsburgh but to get a job. Since James has no job experience with...well, pretty much anything, he has to get a job at the local, rinky-dink amusement park called Adventureland (how Disney never sued this fictional park, I'll never know). James begins working on the carnival-style games that are rigged so no one ever wins, for example, a giant-ass panda...unless they cheat, that is. James hates his job but meets some good friends like Joel (Martin Starr, from Freaks and Geeks), Connell (Reynolds), and Em (Stewart), a beautiful, quiet girl studying at New York University. Despite his naivete, his hang-ups with girls, and his general awkwardness, James falls madly in love with Em, who reciprocates even though she's got her own issues that may screw things up for both of them.

The movie's been marketed as a straight comedy (it helps that Mottola directed 2007's Superbad) but this is far more than just a goofy, teen comedy. Mottola, who also wrote the script, uses Em as the signpost to warn away those expecting raunch. Her entire character, realized beautifully by Stewart (who more than makes up for the first Twilight film here), is complicated, frustrating, and is the type to always make the wrong choices. Though the film, in its romantic dealings, has a typical structure--boy meets girl, boy and girl fall for each other, boy and girl try to deal with personal problems separately, boy and girl fall out, boy and girl get back together--you can't help but admire how the characters go through the paces, making the whole thing feel more real, not something out of a cheesy romantic comedy.

Whatever false moves are made here, mostly involving subplots with supporting characters like Joel, may be excused with a deleted scene or two on the subsequent DVD release. If that's not the case, it's easy to argue that Mottola isn't closing the subplots up because real life doesn't always have pat endings. Along with Coraline, Adventureland is easily one of the finest films of the year, so far.