“Adventureland”

Miramax Films

Directed by Greg Mottola

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Margarita Levieva, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig

Rated R

3 Stars     

Sean McBride covered this viewing live from SXSW Film Festival in Austin:

When Greg Mottola directed “Superbad” two years ago, we all expected that he would follow up that raunchy teen comedy with another raunchy teen comedy. Some of us even dared to hope for a film that would go even further into the realm of black humor. Perhaps “Superbad II: Raunchier and Teenier?”

Instead, we have “Adventureland” rolling into theaters this week. As you would expect from Mottola’s new film, the film features plenty of sex talk, awkward situations, bodily fluids, pratfalls and drug humor. As you might not expect, the film is decidedly tamer than “Superbad,” and while the movie trailers play up the comedic aspects of the film, “Adventureland” actually turns out to be a fairly poignant, coming-of-age dramedy, not quite what we were expecting. Call it a disappointment for those looking for an all-out funny flick, but a charming winner for those satisfied with a nice time at the movies.

Jessie Eisenberg stars in the Michael Cera role, playing a young kid just out of college who takes a summer job at a run down amusement park instead of going off to Europe. Working at Adventureland is the only job that he can get and he really needs the money. The job is a minimum wage joke, but it does have some perks, namely a girl named Em (Kristen Stewart).