Check Out the Trailer

ADVENTURELAND isn’t as funny as I thought it would be. That’s because it’s not really a comedy — a dramedy at best. Ads have played up the humor and that it’s written and directed by SUPERBAD’s Greg Mottola, who used what power he earned on the Judd Apatow-produced comedy to revisit this story, which he had written years before. It’s a personal ’80s coming-of-age story that feels authentic due to its keen feel for setting and tone. While many of the characters could be described in a few words, it wouldn’t tell you all there is to tell about them. Just like life.

James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE) has just graduated college and is looking forward to a summer trip cavorting around Europe with his friends before starting grad school at Columbia. However, his parents give him surprise news on his graduation day — his father has been demoted and they don’t have the money to send him to Europe or pay for his apartment in NYC. So he has to go back home to Pittsburgh and find a job. The only work he can get is at the old school amusement park Adventureland.
Read the rest of this entry »