Adventureland (2009)
I feel like Adventureland is a criminally under-viewed film. Critics rated it well (76 on Metacritic and 89% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), yet it only made $17,164,377 at the box office. It's a coming of age story, starring Jesse Eisenberg, that features a recent college graduate who's floating through his first summer out of school. It's a great story and one I feel everyone can relate to in some way or another. Of all movies I've seen with Kristin Stewart, this is definitely the best. The casting was perfect for all of the major roles and there are no bad performances to cite. Adventureland can be viewed on Netflix Watch Instantly, rented for $2 on Amazon video service, or more than likely streamed for free on shady pirate websites (my favorite is TUBE+). So, watch the film and let's talk about it!
I felt that Adventureland has a really laid back style and approach to it. In my opinion, this is what gave get it's coming of age story and developing romance authenticity. Do you think that the film benefits from this type of approach that never seems to be over the top? Does it help when telling this type of story?
ReplyDeleteYeah, the laid back style does lend a lot of believably to the relationship. To me, it's the simple premise and mood, largely set by the actors' performances, that sets this coming of age story apart from the rest of the pack.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite scene is the finale when James meets up with Em in New York. The callback of Jesse putting on the "Games Games Games" shirt was a great touch. My favorite line is when they start playing that "Rock Me Amadeus" song for like the third time in the movie and James says, "Jesus Fucking Christ! They play this song like 20 times a day!" That line always stands out when I watch the movie. And omg, Lisa P.
As for dislikes, Frigo was kind of grating. He was a cool novelty for a little while but the character just got old. I also felt that the Ryan Reynolds-Em story line could have been stronger. I didn't really understand why Em was messing around with him, other than the pass the time.
What were some of your favorite or least favorite moments?
It's supposedly a first-hand account of writer/director Greg Mottola's life. I'm glad he made this film because I enjoy the story a lot.
I would of liked to see more consequences to the affair between Mike Connell (Reynolds) and Em (Stewart), especially on Connells side of things. I would of liked to see more emotion from. He didn't seem mad, upset that he had just lost his wife or that James (Eisenberg) let be known to everyone by telling Lisa P. I guess this goes along with your thought that you would of liked to see the Reynolds-Em story line to be stronger.
ReplyDeleteI love when those guys are chasing Eisenberg after he brings one of them to the ground. He runs into Hader's office. As the group that is chasing him approaches, Hader comes out with a baseball bat screaming "Give me a reason!". Nothing groundbreaking and didn't help the film at all but I enjoyed it quite a bit. I really liked the 80's setting and the music that came with it.
Maybe filmmakers are on to something with turning there life stories into a comedic film. '50/50', a recent film, Writer Will Reiser told his real life story. It was a solid film due in large part to the story. If stories are this interesting than keep them coming.