<div> <ul class="ResultList"> <li><a href="/news/former-finalist-djokovic-through-to-us-semis-$1325996.htm">Former finalist Djokovic through to US semis</a></li><li><a href="/news/more-belgian-joy-as-wickmayer-makes-semis-$1325995.htm">More Belgian joy as Wickmayer makes semis</a></li><li><a href="/news/northern-ireland-0-2-slovakia-$1325991.htm">Northern Ireland 0-2 Slovakia</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div style="background:white;"> </div> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-9353229343941924"; /* 300x250, created 03/11/09 */ google_ad_slot = "0725049070"; google_ad_width = 300; google_ad_height = 250; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </div><p class="date">Thursday, 10, Sep 2009 03:02</p><p class="summary"><i>Directed by Greg Mottola, out September 11th in cinemas, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, running time 107 mins</i>. </p><p><b>In a nutshell... </b> </p><p>Offbeat, awkward and affectionate nostalgia. </p><p><b>What's it all about?</b> </p><p>After his family's financial situation changes, would-be writer James (Eisenberg) is forced to abandon his planned summer of travelling around Europe in favour of a deadbeat job at the local ailing theme park. Among the rigged games, repetitive songs and misfit co-workers James finds the alluring and enigmatic arcade girl Em (Stewart), though he might face a struggle for her affections... </p><p><object width="300" height="243"> </p><p> <param name="movie" value="http://www.player.filmtrailer.com/v3.3/player.swf?file=http://uk.player-feed.filmtrailer.com/v2.0/cinema/2138?channel_user_id= 441100064-1&default_quality=xlarge&display_title=over&enable_link=false&autostart=false"></param> </p><p> <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.player.filmtrailer.com/v3.3/player.swf?file=http://uk.player-feed.filmtrailer.com/v2.0/cinema/2138?channel_user_id= 441100064-1&default_quality=xlarge&display_title=over&enable_link=false&autostart=false" allowFullScreen="true" width="300" height="243"></embed> </p><p></object><br/> <a style="font-family: verdana; color:cccccc; font-size: 8pt; text-decoration:none" alt="filmtrailer.com" target="_blank" href="http://uk.filmtrailer.com/">Film Trailers by Filmtrailer.com</a> </p><p><b>Who's in it?</b> </p><p>Jesse Eisbenberg won acclaim for his fantastic leading performance in Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale while Kristen Stewart is currently one of the most famous young actresses in the world, thanks to her starring role in the Twilight films. The Proposal's Ryan Reynolds and Saturday Night Live cast members Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader also star in the new film from Superbad director Greg Mottola. </p><p><b><a href="http://www.inthenews.co.uk/interview/entertainment/film/ryan-reynolds-working-on-adventureland-made-me-feel-old-$1324383.htm" target="_blank">Click here to read the <i>inthenews.co.uk</i> interview with Ryan Reynolds</a></b> </p><p><b>As an example.</b> </p><p>"We pay little Malaysian kids 10c a day to make those toys, we can't just give them away." - Joel </p><p>"They don't like people like me. We're romantics. I mean, I read poetry for pleasure sometimes." - James </p><p>"I think somebody was trying to write 'Satan Lives' on that wall but they spelled it 'Satin Lives'." - James </p><p>"One of those textile worshiping cults no doubt." - Em </p><p><b>What the others say</b> </p><p>"With a cast that believed in one another and a writer-director who believed he didn't have to follow Superbad with SuperEvenBadder, Adventureland is the kind of adventure we could all use more of." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times </p><p>"Adventureland unspools as a rather ordinary account of youthful summer misadventures that goes down easily thanks to a sparky cast." - Todd McCarthy, Variety. </p><p><b>So is it any good?</b> </p><p>Greg Mottola's last directorial effort, Superbad, seemed to lose steam as it staggered towards a climax, but in directing his own script it's the initial momentum that's an issue. Adventureland eventually finds its feet and the semi-autobiographical basis of the film is clear in the extensive detail of the film, whether in character, style or sound, with frequent laughs available from the never-ending presence of Falco's Rock Me Amadeus on the park stereos or the blatantly-rigged attractions. It's a pity then that the film gets off to such a slow start, with laughs coming gently and an apparent hesitance to transport the action to the clearly fertile comic ground of the theme park. Because in its most engaging moments, Adventureland is a smart coming-of-age tale that reveals Mottola's fine sense of character, design and tone and is set for many a DVD viewing. </p><p>Mottola's confirmed he wanted the film to feel like a pop song and it's sonically perfect, with Hoboken indie trio Yo La Tengo providing a delicate score that sits comfortably alongside a nostalgic soundtrack of choice cuts from the Replacements, Crowded House and the magnificent gloom of Husker Du, as well as the aforementioned Teutonic horror of Falco. </p><p>Martin Starr and Ryan Reynolds do well to elicit audience sympathy for their easily-dislikeable characters - a Russian literature-reading park worker and a failed rock star and adulterer - and the value of years in live sketch comedy is proved by the sparkling improv between Hader and Wiig as the well-meaning park managers. </p><p>Though it might be concerned with the uncertainty of the last step before adulthood, Adventureland finds its rhythm in the faltering romance between James and Em, with the two young leads putting in superb performances as confused, complex twentysomethings yet to find their place in the world. </p><p>Eisenberg retains the dry nerviness of his star turn in The Squid and the Whale, while losing the priggishness of that film's protagonist, and Stewart carries the same wisdom and sadness that made her Twilight performance compelling (though her habit of repeatedly sweeping her fringe away from her face seems affected). </p><p>It underwhelmed in the US, and it's not hard to see why, with this 80s-set drama too focused on those in their early 20s to appeal to adults while today's teenage audiences might struggle to relate to a poetry-spouting lead and a recurring Husker Du song. But for filmgoers who lived through the same transitory periods as the fictional James and his real-life inspiration Mottola, or just viewers who favour a romance that's sharp rather than sentimental, Adventureland's well worth the admission fee. </p><p>It's not without its flaws, but in its best moments, squalor and romance sit side-by-side in a nostalgic and lovingly made comedy that feels like revisiting a favourite song from your teens. </p><p><b>8/10</b> </p><p><i>Lewis Bazley</i></p> </div> <div id="article-ad"> <script type='text/javascript'><!--//<![CDATA[ var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https://a.preferdigitaladvertising.co.uk/delivery/ajs.php':'http://a.preferdigitaladvertising.co.uk/delivery/ajs.php'); var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999); if (!document.MAX_used) document.MAX_used = ','; document.write ("<scr"+"ipt type='text/javascript' src='"+m3_u); document.write ("?zoneid=139"); document.write ('&cb=' + m3_r); if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write ("&exclude=" + document.MAX_used); document.write (document.charset ? 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