Director: Greg Mottola(The Daytrippers, Superbad)
Writer: Greg Mottola
Producers: Anne Carey, Ted Hope, Sidney Kimmel
Starring: Jessie Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Bill Hader, Ryan Reynolds, Paige Howard, Margarita Levieva
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 107 min.

Don’t be fooled! This is not another teenage comedy about a ridiculous adventure with parties, sexual shenanigans and booger jokes. Sure there is some of that in here to keep the laugh quotient fairly high, but this is more of a wonderfully shot, coming-of-age story about life after college and the struggles that accompany said age and where life should go next and what to do with oneself.

This is the movie that should have come from the David Gordon Greene meets Apatow crew last summer. As we all know, that movie ended up being Pineapple Express; which was all well and good, but not nearly the interesting and much richer (both visually and thematically) film that Adventureland is.

Adventureland tells the story of a small town, young man whose plan to explore Europe and then settle in New York City with his friend after college is suddenly put on hold due to monetary setbacks from his financially supportive parents. He settles for a summer job at the local carnival/amusement park known as Adventureland. Here he meets all sorts of interesting characters that help him sort of define who he is, who he should be with and what he wants out of life. On top of this, he gets much more involved in the lives of his friends and learns several life lessons through experiences and observation of others’ home lives. Needless to say, the potential love of his life is among those he encounters.

All of these threads are woven together and move seamlessly amongst one another and not once ever feels clunky, lazy or disjointed. We are able to easily follow the main character as he juggles several issues all at once and we constantly go back and forth from one scenario to another and then back again. Sometimes these encounters with various characters and situations directly affect another and other times they are a separate issue all on their own. Either way, the problems facing our protagonist seem to really ring true, are easily identifiable and are equally easy to follow; despite the sheer number of problems thrown at him.

While a great drama with some nice character acting, the trailer isn’t completely misleading as this movie is equally as funny as it is dramatic. Not once did I ever think the movie was slow or indecisive about what it wants to be. Magically, the ratio of laughs to seriousness is balanced incredibly well and the movie ends up somehow being both. Not a mile-a-minute laugh riot, but I can assure the audience at least ten laugh out loud moments and even more chuckles throughout the entire 120 minutes.

Jesse Eisenberg has shined on screen for years now and this may finally be his break-out role if enough people get out to see this gem. Unfortunately my prediction (so far coming to fruition) is that very few movie-goers will see Adventureland theatrically, but is certain to be a DVD success. But Eisenberg broke on to the scene in a big way with Campbell Scott in Roger Dodger and then very nearly stole the show in one of the best (and most overlooked) films of 2005, The Squid and the Whale. Here is just another example of his potential for greatness. Sure it’s sort of the same character he’s played before: a not too sure of himself intellect who is willing to speak up and will likely say the right thing, but he’s worried about how people will perceive him and think he’s not cool.

Equally convincing are all of our very recognizable co-stars: Kristen Stewart (Twilight), Martin Starr (Freaks and Geeks), Ryan Reynolds (Waiting), Bill Hader (Apatow films and SNL) and so on. Even the parents of various characters are not played off as props or characatures but as real people who require real acting; and the actors all perform that task admirably.

Aesthetically speaking, you really couldn’t ask for much more in terms of quality and prowess. While most of the film is not overly beautiful as to distract the audience or be more than it needs to be, it definitely has a look to it that is warm and inviting, despite some of the subject matter that is not. This goes for the set design as well. Setting your film in the 1980′s is not as easy of a task as it may sound. Luckily, everything fits like a glove and as in the aforementioned The Squid and the Whale, the 80′s style is not done in an over the top fashion. It’s obvious it is in the 80′s, but not in a Hollywood, ridiculous kind of way. It’s done just as I remember the 80′s; the excessiveness of the time period is not over stated. Also, the final ten minutes of the film take place in a separate setting from the film and is shot with unbelievable loads of gorgeous. For fans of Wong Kar Wai (particularly the aesthetic of The Blueberry Nights), you’ll be up to your ears in awe as these scenes are presented. For me, this final act is actually what moved this film from “well above average” to “great” in my mind. Not necessarily for the direction of the story (though I liked that too), but simply for the style and feel. I was sold then and there.

Though not completely perfect (I did have some very minor gripes about a couple of melodramatic, “soap opera-esque” scenes), Adventureland will play unbelievably well to a wide array of audiences and has convinced me to watch for future Greg Mottola projects. Superbad is all well and good, but Adventureland is superb. Having said that, the movie might have a tough time cracking this author’s personal top ten list of 2009, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable movie that is certainly the best cinematic experience playing in the multi-plexes right now and is likely the best mainstream film of the year thus far. Being one third of the way through 2009, that’s not too shabby of a title for a film to claim.