Review: 'Adventureland' Worth Trip

'Adventureland' (R)(out of four)

Poor James. Despite a summer job at a neighborhood amusement park, his life is definitely not fun. The recent college graduate, who reads poetry for pleasure, and who now possesses a degree in Renaissance studies, thought he'd be taking a vacation in Europe with his soon-to-be grad school roommate.

He already has plans after summer vacation. He'll head to Columbia University to pursue a degree in journalism, with a desire to become a travel essayist. That is until Dad gets laid off, and Mom tells him he'll have to help pay the tuition for his Ivy League education.

Cue the music: James Brennan ("The Squid and the Whale's" Jesse Eisenberg) is staying in Pittsburgh for the summer.

If it sounds like this story could get a bit deep, it can. Despite the trailer that paints this film as another in a series of "Superbad" clones, writer-director Greg Mottola takes a different turn -- surprising since it was Mottola who was behind the camera for the raunchy "Superbad."

On the surface, "Adventureland" could have taken the same career path -- a gross-out comedy about carnies at a Pittsburgh amusement park. But this is a story that has true characters with genuine emotions that blend for a relatable coming-of-age story. So what we get is something akin to "The Graduate" circa 1987, minus Mrs. Robinson, but with the same early adulthood angst.

It's really James' interaction with a girl he meets at the park named Emily (Em for short) that spurs the emotion, allowing it to overwhelm the peaks of comedy that swirl on the peripheral of the movie. Em is played with adult depth by 17-year-old Kristen Stewart ("Twilight"), who gets to shine here as a 19-year-old dealing with the untimely death of her mother and the re-marriage of her father. She's also harboring a secret that through her developing closeness to James becomes all the more thorny.

Juxtaposing the seriousness of the behind-the-scenes tribulations at Adventureland are park managers Bobby and Paulette played by "Saturday Night Live" cast members Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, who believe that pasting eyes on toy stuffed banana prizes and protecting the park at all costs is the key to their existence. Matt Bush as Tommy Frigo, who has known James since the fourth grade, has a recurring "Superbad"-type habit of crotch punching, which is funny for about five minutes.

Straddling the comic and tragic is Joel (Martin Starr) who shares a similar deep intellect as James, and whose sarcasm about the "pathetic moron" life of a game booth worker is a barometer of the movie's tone.

"Adventureland's" group of misfits is an ensemble of caricatures culled from real life. Mottola based the script on his own summer job at a park on Long Island, N.Y., which accounts for the soul of the film.

There's more, however, to this ensemble than the actors. The park itself (the movie was shot in Pittsburgh at the historic Kennywood Park) takes center stage as a place where old-fashioned fun collides with the modern world.

The soundtrack of the 1980s also comes front and center, reflecting the ever-changing mood of James (The Cure's "Just Like Heaven," Expose's "Point of No Return," and Wang Chung's "Dance Hall Days," which are just a few of the 40 songs used in the film), and pulls everything so sharply together.

The roller coaster of "Adventureland," with its highs and lows, is definitely worth the ride.