ADVENTURELAND
(R)
MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ***1/2 (out of 5)
STARRING
Jesse Eisenberg as JAMES BRENNAN
Kristen Stewart as EM LEWIN
Ryan Reynolds as MIKE CONNELL
Bill Hader as BOBBY
Martin Starr as JOEL
Kristen Wiig as PAULETTE
Directed by: Greg Mottola
Studio: Miramax
BY KEVIN CARR
To me, “Adventureland” was very similar to this summer’s indie hit “(500) Days of Summer,” which a lot of people in my circles seemed to like but never clicked with me. As a follow-up to Greg Mottola’s “Superbad,” the film fails to deliver, opting for angst and depression to raunch and laugh-out-loud comedy.
“Adventureland” follows James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) through his summer after graduating college. Because his father gets demoted at work, James must get a crappy summer job at a low-rent amusement park called Adventureland. However, while suffering through his terrible job, he falls in love and learns a lot about life by dealing with his co-workers.
There are some very funny moments in the movie, although the cast is what brings the movie down. Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart are too busy acting in their stock character mode to give us anything more from their acting talents. The characters are pointlessly depressing, wallowing in their own negative emotions laced with pot-smoke and messy post-teenage sex.
Of course, if you’re someone who has worked in said crappy summer job, especially recently, you might get a kick out of the film. I just got irritated with watching people mope around and refuse to rise out of lame situations.
The “Adventureland” Blu-ray offers more than the DVD release does. Both the DVD and Blu-ray give you deleted scenes, a commentary track with Mottola and Eisenberg as well as a music selection and the “Just My Life” making-of featurette.
Exclusive to the Blu-ray are the better features, including “Lisa P’s Guide to Style” and “Frigo’s Taps,” which documents the character’s strategy to hit unsuspecting people in the balls. Finally, the best features are in the “Welcome to Adventureland” segment which includes lame videotape-era training spots for the new Adventureland employee (after all, it is Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig who are the funniest folks in the movie; why not give their characters a spotlight on the Blu-ray?).