On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 3/13 |
Sean Collier |
Shockingly good. One of the best post-collegiate type movies ever. |
| 5/20 |
Les Winan |
The slightly predictable plot is more than overcome by the great casting and an abundance of charm and wit. |
| 33/169 |
Max Braden |
This was misadvertised as mostly starring the SNL actors, but Ryan Reynolds is more important to the story, which is more drama than comedy. I liked it. |
| 38/82 |
Kelly Metz |
Maybe this movie would be boring to anyone who didn't work in an amusement park in high school...maybe that's why I didn't relate to one part of this. So very meh. |
Greg Mottola follows up his 2007’s smash hit Superbad with another coming of age comedy, Adventureland. This time Mottola stretches a tad...backwards...to Summer 1987. Set in an amusement park of the title’s name, a recent college grad (The Squid and the Whale’s Jesse Eisenburg) is forced to take a minimum wage job after realizing he can't afford his dream European tour. Instead, said college grad will learn life’s hard lessons, find his first love, form new friendships and mature just in time to enter the wonderful world of college in the fall.
Of course, the movie will feature all of that Mottola Style – meaning a raunchy, heartwarming and freakin hilarious time!
Jumping 20 years to summer 2007, Superbad benefited greatly from the Judd Apatow branding (Knocked Up, The 40 Year-Old Virgin) coupled with actually being a good movie and became one of the sleeper hits of the summer. Jonah Hill and Michael Cera became household names among the teenage and college set and immediately made Mottola’s next effort highly anticipated. While Hill and Cera (not to mention Superbad writer and costar Seth Rogen) will sit this one out; Mottola still has quite the cast. Eisenburg has proven he can pull off socially awkward (totally plugging The Squid and the Whale) and Kristen Stewart (Twilight) is poised to take over as every fanboy’s dream girl. The ever reliable Ryan Reynolds (Waiting...), Kristen Wiig (Ghost Town), and Bill Hader (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) round out the rest of the cast.
Adventureland should ride a wave of positive buzz into theaters; however, the "From the creators of Superbad" popularity looks to have already peaked. While reviews and grosses for 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Pineapple Express were strong, they both paled in comparison to Superbad, The 40 Year-Old Virgin, and Knocked Up. Clearly the inventive and refreshing Apatow Gang provides the best that comedy has to offer right now, but it would be interesting to see what they can do in other genres. (Joel West/BOP)
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