Adventureland

As mentioned in the previous Observe and Report review, I went into Adventureland with practically no expectations. I knew it was from the director of Superbad, a movie I very much enjoyed, and that was about it. Aside from Bill Hader, Martin Starr, and the guy from Van Wilder, I didn't recognize any of the actors. I went in with a blank slate, and came out with my mind blown.

Adventureland follows our generation's Benjamin Braddock, a Pittsburg-native aspiring journalist, James Brennan. James has just graduated from college , and is planning on going on a summer trip to Europe with his best buddies in the interum, before heading off to NYC for grad school. unfortunately, his family is not making as much money as expected, so James must forgo his trip across the pond, and get a summer job to pay for Columbia. Being but a mere poetic intellectual, James is not qualified for any jobs but to work at the local theme park, Adventureland. James then goes on to meet new friends, new girls, and rotten corndogs in what I can gladly call my favorite movie of the year, so far.

Everything in this film was perfect to me. the dialoge, and with that, the entire script, was natural and realistic, while still remaining snappy and hilarious. The acting is top notch, and I look forward to getting to know all the new actors this movie introduced to me. the soundtrack had some of my favorite songs from the 70s and 80s, and some of the most seizure-inducingly annoying pop hits from back in the day. Adventureland was one of the first films in a while I have seen that has pulled off the whole 'shaky-cam' thing. Most movies that try the shaky-cam angle end up making a fool of themselves, trying to immitate The Blair Witch Project or Arrested Development, but adventureland succeeds with my bull shit meritless seal of approval, and I mean that in a good way.

But by far, the best thing is that the movie feels real. Almost diametrically opposed to Greg Mottola's previous work, Superbad, which was one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, but it was hugely campy and unrealistic. Aventureland, on the other hand, pulls of almost the same level of comedy, all while maintaining realistic characters with complex emotions. one of the things I really love about the film is the central love quadrangle, and how it is dealt with in a completely legitimate way, rather than surcoming to the cliche . about 15 minutes into the film, when a young hot character by the name of Lisa P runs in, my mind goes "great. a diversionary beautiful love interest to combat Em. I can see it all now. James is going to cheat on Em with Lisa, Em will get mad, Em will leave James, James will prove to Em he is sorry, Em will take him back. BARF-RIFFIC." This is a plague that stirkes many decent movies, in which the previously noted predictable plot occurs. I have decided to name this phenomenon Cashback Syndrome. I'm sure it's happened in plenty of other movies, but Cashback, a cute British comedey I saw a few years ago, is the first to come to mind. Cashback was a brillian little film about an insomniac art school student, with the disputably imaginary power to bend time, who decides to take up a night shift at a grocery store after a bad break up with the love of his life. the movie was very original, which I still praise it for today, up until the last 15 minutes, in which the new love of his life he meets at the grocery store (SPOILER ALERT) catches him kissing his ex girlfriend at a party. she storms off, YADA YADA YADA, you know the rest. so a wonderfully original film falls prey to its titular syndrome. this all leads up to me saying that, thankfully, this is not the case for adventureland. I'll let you see for yourself how the movie deals with this dilemma, but I can proudly declare that Adventureland tested negative for Cashback Syndrome.

Adventureland continues to amaze me. every character is deep, and wonderful. Of course I love James and Em, but all of the supporting characters are just as wonderful. Lisa P seems to truly be a character, with hopes, dreams, and fears, not just some diversionary side-character/plot device as she would be in any other film. James' childhood friend Frigo may seem like an annoying, ball-punching douchebag, but he's a true friend, and you get the feeling by the end of the movie, you'll probably end up liking him. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are great, for what little screen time they get, and Connell is an interesting take on the wise mentor charachter. I love me some Martin Starr, and he is great in this. I have always loved him, since he played Bill on the short lived NBC dramedy Freaks and Geeks. oh, and by the way, if you haven't seen Freeks and Geeks, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? GO SEE IT. NOW....I'll wait...seriously....

Ok. did you check it out yet? am I right? it's brilliant, right? of course. so, anyway, back to Adventureland. it's subtle enough to remain different in today's comedy scene. There are many moments in this film that it could have veered into absurd, obtuse, obvious territory, ala Superbad*, but it doesn't. it steadily stays realistic enough to keep me impressed, and funny enough to keep me laughing. After just seeing Adventureland for the second time in theaters, I can really say that it does not loose any of it's charm the second time. Unless something else rolls up on the scene to surprise me, I'm naming Adventureland my Movie of the Year.

*ok. I've been ragging on Apatow-style comedies lately, and I just want to say that I do love them. Apatow and Rogen are some of my favorite people in Hollywood today, but he needs to tighten up a bit. they've had some really great movies, but everytime I go and see them, I feel like i'm seeing the same movie over and over again, with different jokes. I'm still undoubtably going to see any movie they put out, but they're gonna have to do something different, or I'll get bored.