It was the worst job they ever imagined… and the best time of their lives.
It's the summer of 1987, and recent college grad James Brennan can't wait to begin his long-anticipated dream trip to Europe. Unfortunately, James' plans come to a screeching halt when his parents announce that they are unable to subsidize his trip. Forced to take a job at the local amusement park, James prepares for the worst summer ever, until he finds love with a captivating co-worker named Em.
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Character
Classical in form, nostalgic, intimate and effortless.
- classical in formformally daring
- contemporarynostalgic
- intimateepic
- effortlessdemanding
- character-ledplot-driven
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“Is the nostalgia doing the heavy lifting?”
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“Is Jesse Eisenberg the best thing in Adventureland?”
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“Does the smallness hold it back?”
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- John Chardon TMDB · May 20208/10
Mottola strikes one from the heart. It's 1987 and James Brennan is home for the summer after earning himself a degree in Renaissance Studies. Which unsurprisingly isn't any use to him when trying to gain employment in this part of Pittsburg. Which is now a problem since his planned trip to Europe has fell by the wayside due to his father's enforced unemployment. So thus he finds himself working at Adventureland, a rusting time warp amusement park where only odd balls and idiots appear to frequent. But here James will make friends, learn life lessons and maybe just find true love?. Be under no illusions, Adventureland is no teen sex comedy reliant on crude jokes and cringe slap-stick moments to get its humour. Which as it's brought to us by the director of Superbad may come as something of a surprise. Greg Mottola is the said director, who here has crafted an ode to his own teenage strife's concerning first jobs and first loves. Though not really offering anything new as such, I mean the old "summer I came of age" film is hardly new is it? Mottola has however managed to blend youthful spirits with a serious kink and nicely cloak it in a bittersweet 80s haze. Some parts are clearly a
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Cast
- Jesse EisenbergJames Brennan
- Kristen StewartEm Lewin
- Martin StarrJoel
- Kristen WiigPaulette
- Bill HaderBobby
- Margarita LevievaLisa P.
- Jack GilpinMr. Brennan
- Josh PaisMr. Lewin
- Wendie MalickMrs. Brennan
- Mary BirdsongFrancy
Crew
- Greg MottolaDirector
- Greg MottolaWriter
- Terry StaceyDirector of Photography
- Ira KaplanOriginal Music Composer
- Anne McCabeEditor
- Sidney KimmelProducer
- Ted HopeProducer
- Anne CareyProducer
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