Left Field Cinema

By many accounts, 2009 was a rather weak year in mainstream American cinema. James Cameron’s epic spectacle Avatar and Kathryn Bigelow’s humanist war drama The Hurt Locker both hogged most of the attention and glory from both audiences and critics alike. Additionally, there was 500 Days of Summer, a film beloved by audiences and hailed as the best romantic-comedy of the year. All three of these films left me under whelmed; but luckily there was another film released in April, which flew right under the radar of most people – a film criminally underrated, miss-marketed, and misunderstood. That film is Adventureland, the surprise “coming of age” masterpiece and hidden gem of 2009.

Director Greg Mottola had previously directed Superbad from 2007, an instant mega-hit among high school kids. It was an extremely raunchy, vulgar comedy involving one crazy night where three high school friends run around town trying to attain booze and lose their virginity before they head off to college. Underneath the absurd silliness of the events in the story and the immense vulgarity, there is a great amount of heart and even emotional maturity buried inside the film, which is what separates it from the regular vulgar teen comedy and why it demands a little more attention than films of its like usually deserve. There is genuine human emotion wrapped inside the utter craziness which taps into the feelings of most teenagers and youth. This is an aspect of Superbad which resonates far more profoundly in Adventureland, a comedy of utmost emotional maturity with the vulgarity and silliness of the story toned down. In many ways, Adventureland is simply a refined and personal continuation of Superbad. Audiences went in expecting another crazy teen comedy like Mottola’s previous film and were thus disappointed to find a film rich in drama and romance.

Set in 1987, Adventureland stars Jesse Eisenberg as James Brennan, a recent college graduate who needs a summer job and is in effect forced to take one at his local amusement park. This job teaches him a lot about life and more importantly introduces him to his first love, Em, played by Kristen Stewart. Critics of the film have argued that the story is too mundane, but ironically, that is actually one of the strengths of the film, as it is perfection in its simplicity. The film meanders around, but is never for an instant boring in the slightest. It has a very light feeling to it, but is rich in a warm atmosphere of summer and romance. To add some strength and depth to the narrative, there is a melodramatic sub-plot involving Em and Connell, played by Ryan Reynolds, a super cool and legendary maintenance man at the amusement park who is known for being a great musician and who is also a married man. Some have described this superfluous to the film, but it actually works brilliantly in bringing insights, highlighting flaws and exposing immaturity in several of the characters – something that is essential in any great “coming of age” story.

I was extremely impressed by Kristen Stewart's performance here. She has a great career ahead of her, as does Eisenberg and everyone else in this superbly acted film. The script is great. There are several funny and well drawn characters, each played brilliantly by everyone in this seemingly perfect cast. Saturday Night Live regulars Bill Hader and Kristen Wig turn in equally hilarious performances as the gun-ho married couple who (unethically) manage the run-down amusement park. An unknown actor by the name of Matt Bush, who I strangely only previously seen in cell-phone commercials on TV, gives a brief but hilarious comedic performance, playing the immature, annoying “douche-bag” of a friend Friggo, who is always there to humiliate and pester James at the worst moments (a type of character whom I have run into many times in my life, and it was played to perfection). Then there was Martin Starr who often steals the show as the dry, cynical and highly comedic character of Joel, a fellow romantic and intellectual, similar to James, who graduated with a seemingly useless degree in Russian Literature and is stuck working at an the amusement park with no solid career ahead of him.

The 80’s were of course a time of the “Yuppies”, people often sacrificed their dreams and interests so they could become wealthy in the business world. Characters like James and Joel were a dying breed; people who went to college simply to get an education and not to get a job. They both feel out of place in the world they live in. James himself speaks of traveling the world, examining different cultures and writing about them. But he of course sees this as unrealistic and is pressured by his parents and best-friend to move into the corporate world. Subsequently, there is a tremendous feeling of apprehensiveness about the future, something which I think most teens can relate to. More importantly, however, the way the characters are written and the way the actors portray their characters, separates Adventureland from most films of its kind. Its heart is immense. Every single moment is captured with authenticity, whether the scene is comedic or dramatic. Mottola’s cinematography is understated here as well, for the film is so delicately crafted, with an almost subtle dream-like quality to it, oozing with the feelings of love and nostalgia, and bursting with incredible energy at precise moments. Through the highs and lows of its characters and story, like summer itself, one does not want Adventureland to ever end. There is the old cliché that life for youth is like a rollercoaster of emotions, and never has a film better captured this concept. For every moment of happiness and love there is a moment of sadness and heart-break. It is like a joyous thrill-ride, filled with countless poignant moments. In Adventureland, I felt the character’s joy, their excitement, their feelings of love, and their feelings of sadness. It is indeed a great experience when a film achieves this for me, as the film connected with me on such a very personal level. I did not ever feel like I was watching characters – I felt I was watching people.

Through it all, our main character of James learns a lot about people, as all the characters reveal things about themselves which were not present at first observation. At first disillusioned with life, friends, parents and people in general, James then finds the courage to disregard his apprehensiveness about the future and thus go out and try to find some happiness in life. He has officially embraced himself and unlike most of his generation he does not need to buy into the material obsessed corporate world. Adventureland – the quintessential “coming of age” story.

Andrew Patterson