Adventureland

I worked in an amusement park one summer. It was supposed to be a quick way to earn some cash before school started. I was sixteen and naïve; I had no idea what kind of hell I was entering into. I learned real fast that it was a hustle. The games were all pretty much rigged. It became perfectly obvious after five minutes that no one would ever win any of the big prizes. Of course that didn't stop people of all ages from trying their luck, from the innocent child to the brain-dead meat head to the kind of scary thug teenager. I didn't stick around long enough to learn about the carny code unfortunately. I quit after one day.

All these memories came flooding back as I watched Greg Motola's very good coming-of-age film Adventureland. The shady owners, the creepy carnies - the film manages to bring out these small touches so very well that it made me feel sort of nostalgic.

The film is set in the late-eighties over the course of one summer where a boy meets a girl and there's the feeling like anything in life is possible. The weight of the world hasn't completely crushed their spirits yet. I don't know a single person, myself included, whose had a summer like this, but they tend to crop up in a lot of movies, so I guess some people have summers like this.

Unable to count on his parents to finance his trip to Europe or his college tuition, James has to look for a summer job. With virtually no work experience, he ends up working at a shitty amusement park. He meets Em (Kristen Stewart), a cute girl who likes James, but is hiding a very damaging secret about her life that neither she nor James are ready to handle. They become friends first, through smoking pot and listening to music. There's no obligatory montage of scenes showing them getting to know each other. Their scenes together are drawn out and we end up rooting for them to finally kiss, and when they do, it gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside

James and Em's relationship is really the heart of the film, but there are a couple of subplots that veer both characters in directions neither are ready for or really want. Prior to meeting James, Em is in the midst of an affair with Connell (Ryan Reynolds), the handsome mechanic that works at the park who also happens to be married. And after Em tells James she's not ready for anything serious, he ends up going on a date with the most sought after girl at the park, Lisa P (Margarita Levieva), basically out of hurt feelings, but there's no denying the girl's hotness.

And what would an amusement park be without oddball characters? They're all played by veteran Apatow-film alumni like Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig and Martin Starr. My favourite is Mat Bush as Frigo, this year's McLovin. He shoots firecrackers at imaginary Viet-Cong and punches James in the balls in almost every scene. They all give the film a much needed chuckle here and there.

There's so much to like about Adventureland, and yet it all feels like deja vu. The characters and situations will be familiar to anyone who has seen Juno, Ghost World, Art School Confidential, or Superbad. They're all about young people too smart for their own good who nevertheless fuck up and get into situations they're not ready for. I think what separates this movies from the rest is that it's not as cynical or self-referential. James and Em don't over-analyze each other or their relationship. The film allows them to get caught up in the moment and make mistakes without having to explain why they did it later on.

And yes, I found myself relating to James, a little too much actually. Except I've never had a summer like this in my life. I wonder if I can get my old job at the amusement park back...