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Work as an adventureback when we were young...By Robert J. Sodaro Adventureland: Rated “R” (106 Minutes) Starring: Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, Martin Starr, Kristen Wiig Directed by: Greg Mottola Here is a fun film that asks the ubiquitous question, “Did your first job suck this much?” well, personally speaking, mine didn’t, but several of my subsequent jobs did. It is 1987; James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) just graduated high school, and is preparing for a hedonistic romp through Europe over the summer just prior to entering graduate school before becoming a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist. At least that was the plan. Unfortunately James’s dad just got laid off, and his folks inform him at his graduation dinner that not only can they no longer afford to send him to Europe, but he now has to get a job. After spending a week hitting every likely spot in his backwater Pennsylvania town and coming up empty, he resigns himself to the fact that the only place hiring is the run down theme park, Adventureland. If you think your first job sucked then you never worked at Adventureland. This is a “I’d rather drink kerosene and piss on an open flame, but as it is the only game in town”, type of job, but this the way he has to roll. The first day on the job running a game (all of which are 90% rigged to never pay off) he is forced (by a patron with a very large knife strapped to his belt) to hand over a “big-ass” stuffed bear -- something he was told to never do under any circumstances. Soon after that, the very earnest and sincere Em is drawn into the personality and lives of his fellow workers. Em (Stewart) the sad and sexy doe-eyed girl with a drinking problem, The hot but chaste Lisa P (Margarita Levieva), and the rest of the fun, not quite losers who inhabit the park. The job truly sucks, but the friends are true, and the story is both touching and endearing — with standout performances by everyone and what amounts to a celebrity appearance by Ryan Reynolds essentially playing the Bluto Blutarsky role of the older, (if not so much wiser) park employee to whom all of the others look up to for inspiration. Wrapped in a killer sound track and a wistful look into our distant past in a fashion similar to the nostalgic turn of That 70s show. Also, it is a “teen flick” that involves college students rather than high schoolers, and that in itself is worth the entrance fee. __________ This entire article is copyright (c) 2009 Freelance Ink, All rights reserved. It cannot be reprinted without specific, written permission from the author. Robert J. Sodaro has been writing professionally for over 20 years. During that time, his movie reviews and articles have appeared in numerous publications, as well as on the web; currently his reviews appear on the Web here and in print in More Sugar. Questions? Comments? Queries? Log in, and have your own say.  Add A Comment to this article
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