Fletch's Film Review: Adventureland

I never worked in an amusement park. I never had dreams of going to New York City to attend grad school. And I most certainly wasn't a 22-year old virgin. But I was a child of the 80s. And I did work summer jobs before, during and after college. And I had relationships not unlike those portrayed in Adventureland. And I most certainly have come to an age where even those friendships and relationships that went south as a young man hold a nostalgic value that can't be measured.

With that in mind, Adventureland served as a reminder to me that what you bring into the theater has a heavy influence of what you take out of a film. I may not have lived in Pittsburgh in 1987, just as I never flew to New Jersey to attend a funeral, but as with 2004's Garden State, I felt at times as though I was watching home movies from a life I never lived. And despite its imperfections, when a film connects with you like that, it's really hard not to love it.

Early on, I was worried. Before the film's title is even shown, we're already made aware that our protagonist, James, is a 22-year old virgin, complete with friends that are out to help him "get that first one out of the way," ensuring that his ensuing post-graduation trip to Europe will be a sexual success on all fronts. Here we go again, right? How many films starring young men must we see where the prime (and sometimes only) objective is to "GET LAID!," only to of course see our heroes learn that there's more to life (and women) than just sex. Aww, didn't we learn a great lesson there?

Further worry came in the form of James himself. Played almost nebbishly by Jesse Eisenberg, James starts out as the type of anti-stud that, again, we've seen one too many times. He doesn't just get pushed around (by women, by his parents, by his "friends"), but he's the type that makes self-deprecating remarks as it's happening. How many times must we endure the pain of Mikey's painful Swingers voice mail fiasco?

However, Adventureland proves to be the rare film that gains momentum, and charm, as it proceeds. As James settles into his job at the amusement park, we're introduced to cast of characters that's not only diverse but detailed and respected enough to transcend mere cliches (the lone exceptions are the park's operators, played nevertheless with straight-up comic glee by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig). From Martin Starr's excellent, pipe-smoking Joel to Matt Bush's D'Annunzio-lite Frigo (watch for his awesome declaratory t-shirt early on), they're given the kinds of traits and quirks that stand out without being grating, and there's a distinct lack of pandering to the audience's intelligence. If anything, it's the park's attendees that get the short end of the stick, portrayed mostly as rubes and/or morons, there only to torment the employees and/or get mocked by them - by and large, these are smart kids that just happen to be doing work that a chimp would laugh at. And though they sadly don't realize it at the time, they're having the times of their lives - even when forced to listen to "Rock Me, Amadeus" 20 times a day.

Fletch's Film Rating:

"It's in the hole!"


Random thoughts:

* This film has been compared to everything from Say Anything... to Dazed and Confused to the oeuvre of no less than John Hughes himself. All of those are apt, and I'd even throw in a heavy nod to Noah Baumbach's similarly toned post-college dramedy Kicking and Screaming and also to another of Richard Linklater's - Before Sunrise. Whether it's the soundtrack, the setting, the realistic characters or the lack of broad physical humor, Adventureland seems set to become a cult teen hit in the vein of all those. I hope it does, because with a $6 million opening weekend, cult status is about all is has to look forward to in terms of popularity. A shame.

* I can't recall specifically where, but a review I read recently paid a compliment to Mottola that I think bears repeating. They pointed out that, despite the film's 1987 setting, Adventureland never beats you over the head with kitschy "Haha - look, it's the 80s! Weren't we stupid?" moments. That subtlety and respect to the era is welcome in a period comedy where the usual direction is to mine the era specifically for laughs (The Wedding Singer, Wet Hot American Summer). There's not necessarily anything wrong with looking back on old times with a sense of humor, but keeping in line with the tone of your movie is paramount, and Mottola handles it excellently.

* In a similar vein, the soundtrack kicks ass; it touches on several high points in 80s pop and rock (The Cure's "Just Like Heaven," Bowie's "Modern Love") while largely avoiding the usual roundup of one-hit wonders, outside of the aforementioned "Rock Me, Amadeus," which is derided even by the film's characters. The real standout for me, though, was INXS's "Don't Change," which plays at a pivotal moment. It's been so many years since I heard the song that I barely knew it was INXS. It was familiar, but sounded like a cover of a song I knew from long ago.

After having listened to it at least five times since last night, I'm sure of three things: 1) it's not a cover, though it was covered by the Goo Goo Dolls (thankfully, I never heard that version), 2) I really wish I hadn't forgotten it, as a listen this morning to INXS's Greatest Hits has me convinced that it's their best song, and 3) is it just me, or does INXS have the worst ratio of respect given:respect received of all 80s bands? This is a band with an impressive string of radio-friendly pop-rock hits, that sold millions of albums over the span of almost 15 years...and yet they practically get the one-hit wonder treatment. Doesn't INXS win over Duran Duran and (gulp) Wang Chung every time? They don't even seem to be in the same class to me.