Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Margarita Levieva, Matt Bush, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader

Directed by: Greg Mottola

Sony Classic

The Official Site of Adventureland

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If someone tells you that Adventureland, the big screen follow up to Superbad for director Greg Mottola, is the “funniest movie of the year�, then they haven’t seen it yet. They’ve just seen the previews. Don’t get me wrong, Adventureland has its moments but that’s not what carries the movie. Adventureland is closer to be being a dramatic coming-of-age story in the abysmal setting of that first real working experience. More heart and nostalgia then hardcore belly laughs, which is fine, but will audiences be able to respond to this sweet summer of love if they’re expecting something else? How many people will walk out disappointed because it wasn’t the movie it was “supposed� to be? Because it wasn’t Superbad in the 80s?

The best thing I could do for you is pass on the warning that someone passed to me. Forget the corndog jokes, forget Bill Hader’s crazy mustache or the cast list of recognizable talent that has made you laugh in the past… Forget the previews completely - Adventureland has some brilliant moments of subtle humor but it’s far from being a comedy.

Jesse Eiesenberg plays James, an intellectual slumming it in Pittsburgh trying to save up some money for Ivy League grad school. He takes a job at the local amusement park where he meets a slew of memorable characters sleepwalking through their jobs as summer-carnies. One of those zombies is a tortured young girl that will change his life forever. Eiesenberg has been bouncing around for years in projects like The Squid and the Whale and Rodger Dodger (Does anyone else remember him in Get Real?) but with James he’s finally found a role that really suits him or, at the very least, makes him look cool enough to notice. And people are certainly noticing. According to his IMDB page he’s got seven films lined up for release in 2009. If half of these are half as good as his turn in Adventureland then the kid is on the Michael Cera fast track to success.

Make no mistake about it - Adventureland takes place in the 1980s. The shaggy hair, the high-wasted pants and the cars so horrible that no one now would be caught dead in them unless they were being ironic, all scream of that wonderful decade. If none of that works to get you back to that specific time and place then the soundtrack should do the trick. David Bowie, Lou Reed, The Replacements and one endless string of “Rock Me Amadeus� play like the perfect mix tape you were always trying to make in junior high. It’s a great use of music to set the tone without being too obvious about it. The highlight for me had to be an Independence Day fireworks show set to “Don’t Dream It’s Over� by Crowded House. One of many perfect musical cues used throughout. (Check out the full soundtrack here)

The film is all about nostalgia. For some people it’ll be nostalgia for that specific era, for that music, those clothes and the remarkable ease of scoring pot. For others it’ll be nostalgia for that girl and that perfect summer shared together. It’s one of those cases where the details may be foreign to certain age groups but the sentiment is universal. We all know of Love.

The previews dare you not to fall in love with the object of Jesse’s affections Em, played by Kristen Stewart. She’s definitely alluring but I personally had a little trouble getting past her Twilight persona. I look at her now and no longer see the little asthmatic hell raiser from Panic Room or the blossoming young star poised to take over Hollywood with her crooked smile and giant hair, but instead see the vampire-lover she will forever be remembered for, for better or worse. For me it was easier to fall in love with the idea of falling in love, something the movie translates beautifully with or without a consistent string of laughs.

Rating: 9 out of 10 - The cast, as fantastic as they are, are delivering a series of unexpected performance. Martin Starr (Freaks and Geeks) as the socially awkward, literary nerd trying to embrace his cooler side is a marvelous guide through the Adventureland and even more impressive when we get a peek at his sadder side. Ryan Reynolds, the surest thing for a laugh other than Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig who go largely unused, won’t make you crack a smile. I wanted him to but that’s not the character he’s playing, and as soon as I let that go the more I was able to enjoy his performance. It’s something very different for him which will seem like nothing next month when he’s trading punches with Wolverine.

It’s one performance after another like that where we’re given something unexpected and true. Except from Matt Bush who embraces his role as the guy that dishes out sack punches. He’s the only remaining skidmark of the broad comedy we thought we wanted to see here.

My first instinct was that Adventureland wasn’t the kind f movie I’d enjoy in repeat viewings but after spending a couple of more hours thinking about it during the duration of researching and crafting this mess of a review I find myself eager to see it again. Maybe even eager enough to buy it.

I’m keeping the supplement area pretty minimal today in hopes that you’ll waste no more time reading this and run out to see this sweet little movie. Thanks so much for stopping by. More tomorrow.