Adventureland

Jon Starr

Jon Starr

Veteran
I gotta say, this film surprised me a bit. Far less of a comedy than advertised. Not like it made jokes that weren't funny, just there weren't as many jokes. Most of the big jokes were in the trailers, obviously to sell better.

However, as a teen coming-of-age nostalgic love movie, I thought it was pretty good. The awkwardness works well for this film. Made me even a bit nostalgic of my teen years, and I'm only 23.

My main complaint is that, even though I think Kristen Stewart is the next big thing (I thought that before twilight), and she's got that "regular but hot girl" look going for her, she sometimes comes off a bit bland in her performances.-

Warning, SPOILER...




-At times I wasn't sure if she was into this guy or not (which worked well at first as that was the point), but even near the end. When he met her near the end, and she told him "the only thing good that happened was you" I really didn't believe it. I dunno, she's cute and I like her, but she's gotta push her performances a bit.
 
I agree with pretty much everything you said - I just saw it this afternoon.

I was not impressed with Kristin Stewart either. I didn't expect much from her though. The whole movie was a little bit bland for my taste, but it had its moments. Jesse Eisenberg is great, I liked him a lot in "The Squid and the Whale" too.
 
I haven't heard of this film, but I'm guessing it has nothing to do with the Jungle Cruise and Dole Whips?
 
I was going to start a thread on this film, you beat me to it. Saw it this weekend as well.

Totally NOT what I was expecting, even after I read the reviews that explained that it's not Superbad pt 2.

This film succeeds in the fact that if you relate to it, you're going to be thinking about it for days afterward. If you can see yourself in the main character (I'm going out on a limb here, a message board devoted to film/video devotees and enthusiasts...there's going to be a few "quiet, sensitive types" in the crowd) If you can relate to this guy, then you are going to see this film and say, "Damn, I remember when that happened to me, and it #*&^-ing sucked."

This film made me nostalgic for my late teens/early 20's as well. I've practically forgotten about that time period where you work a crappy job by day and are always available to go out to the bars/club on any given night w/o any responsibilities. There is so many instances in this film that reminded me of my youth, very similar to the show Freaks and Geeks.

And FINALLY we're at a point in history where retro "era" movies are about my favorite time period: The late 80's! But I have a personal observation.....I don't think visually things are that much different now than 1987, at least on film. For instance, if a movie was made in the 80's about the 50's, we'd automatically register the visuals like poodle skirts, cars with fins and pompadours. I think if you're doing a film about a small town in 1987, the differences between now and then are fairly subtle. (Minus the short-shorts and tall socks)

FINALLY pt 2: This film gets major major points for having not one, but two Replacements songs and a Husker Du song.
 
Deepfocus88 said:
For instance, if a movie was made in the 80's about the 50's, we'd automatically register the visuals like poodle skirts, cars with fins and pompadours. I think if you're doing a film about a small town in 1987, the differences between now and then are fairly subtle. (Minus the short-shorts and tall socks)
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That's true of a lot of cultural things, especially music. Not much change since about 1993.
 
deep focus you know that the director of this besides superbad also worked on freaks and geeks? i hear its good. i can't wait.
 
These guys all run in the same circles, and I can totally get behind most of the material they produce. (Producers, directors and actors)

On a slightly related note, there's a cool new series on Starz called Party Down that has Martin Starr from F&G (Plus Knocked Up, Adventureland...) It's hilarious.
 
I was disappointed. I did think it was suppose to be a comedy, but after sitting through and taking it for what it was worth I though it was lacking. My main complaint was that the whole theme of teen angst and wondering if that cute girl liked you or not would have fit better if the main characters were in high school. The glaring fact that he was a college grad just didn't work for me, I mean he hasn't figured the girl things out yet?

That and at times it felt like Jesse Eisenberg was channelling Michael Cera, and he plays the same character in most movies.
 
cerati said:
at times it felt like Jesse Eisenberg was channelling Michael Cera, and he plays the same character in most movies.
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I'll give you that. That whole "young innocent" character Cera plays was funny but it's been played and needs to go bye-bye.

And Adventureland did have more of a high school vibe going on, which I also found a bit confusing at times.
 
The biggest difference between then and now are cell phones, PDA's, computers...internet...and that's pretty big if you ask me.

I remember clearly in my teens, a life without gadgets and instant communication. It was a much quieter life.
 
What are you talking about, I totally had a cell phone in the 80's!

old_cell_phone.jpg
 
I saw the film and it was alright. I didnt really expect Superbad but I got the Juno vibe off of the film.

Kristen Stewarts performance lacked in some parts but she has a lot of talent. Thank god I havent seen Twilight
 
This movie won me over by the end. For the first half I really wasn't sure I liked it, not finding it all that funny, and annoyed by Jesse Eisenberg's performance, but the movie eventually made up for these shortcomings with a lot of sincerity. And Eisenberg got less annoying as the film went on. Not much of a comedy but has a genuine quality and feeling for a particular phase of life we all go through. Really liked Martin Starr from Freak & Geeks, who stole a lot of scenes in that show and in this film, and I liked Kristen Stewart a lot more in this than in Twilight. It's worth watching if you don't expect a hi-larious time at the movies.
 
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