Greg Mottola’s Adventureland just missed the cut in my mid-year top ten list coming in at #11 just behind Away We Go. I have yet to watch Away We Go again, but this one holds up nicely thanks to a lack of sight gags as a real and down-to-earth romantic comedy rather than merely focusing on raunchy adolescent behavior as a source of audience amusement.
Set in 1987, the film centers on a group of twenty-somethings working over the summer at Adventureland, the local amusement park. From there, the story follows James (Jesse Eisenberg) and Em (Kristen Stewart) as they start a complicated summer romance that involves adultery, marijuana, Lisa P. and a couple of eccentric carnies played by “Saturday Night Live” regulars Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. Fun is had by all.
What I liked most about this film is how it uses twenty-somethings to tell its story, and I have mentioned this just recently, but it is something that legitimizes the use of alcohol as opposed to having to come up with scenarios how the film’s leads would acquire their drinks. Of course, this leads to another bonus, which is to say the film doesn’t lose touch with reality when its characters get inebriated. A couple makes out when they traditionally wouldn’t have and a late night dip in the pool causes for a brief source of embarrassment that is again revisited later on in the film. It’s a great slice of life and look at the consistently complex inner-workings of young relationships. Sure, a couple of wrenches are thrown in here and there, but that’s where movies separate themselves from real life.
Miramax’s Blu-ray release offers up a few worthy extras, but for the most part the audio commentary is where you will want to go to first. There are a few deleted scenes, a making of doc and a trio of mockumentary featurettes including a look into the art of the “sack tap” led by Frigo (Matt Bush), a goofy “don’t do drugs” PSA and perhaps the best of the bunch is “Lisa P’s Guide To Style” in which Margarita Levieva as Lisa P. says (among other things), “Polka dots are so now, and that’s why I like ’em.” That line gave me a good laugh.
The audio commentary is friendly and free-flowing with Mottola and star Jesse Eisenberg talking a lot about the ups and downs of making in indie film, Mottola’s musical discussions and the time constraints he was working with. Most notable for me was when Mottola mentions Miramax approached him about creating a director’s cut, but when he told them it probably would have been 10 minutes shorter the idea was nixed. I mean, how do you sell a director’s cut if it doesn’t say something like “Including Never Before Seen Footage!” How indeed. I guess the concept of a “director’s cut” isn’t something even the studios have a firm grasp of.
Overall, this is a solid flick and a toss-up when it comes to recommending it as one to buy. It’s definitely a good film, but is it worth your money? Should you decide on a purchase I certainly don’t think the extra money needed to purchase the Blu-ray is called for. This is a film you will enjoy just as much on DVD as you would on Blu-ray, but for the most part it’s a comedy you should be able to go back to even more than Mottola’s box-office hit Superbad as the jokes don’t wear thin and the mere fact Falco’s “Rock Me Amadeus” is playing in the background of almost every scene is a subtle joke that never tires.
