There's a lot of things to like about this movie. For one, the actors are all appealing. Jesse Eisenberg (Squid and the Whale) is a less dorky -- and better -- Michael Cera. Kristen Stewart is, well, Kristen Stewart. And I'm ecstatic for any ex-Freaks and Geeks-ers who get a big role, in this case Martin Starr. And I feel like Margarita Levieva will have more to offer than just a dumb blonde role in the future. Ryan Reynolds was predictably terrible but whatever. There were some really good lines sprinkled in the script too. Compared to Nick & Norah's, I thought this was way better all around.
However, I felt dissatisfied with a lot of Adventureland. I wanted more real moments, less slapstick. I wanted a better ending. I thought the rhythm of cuts for scenes were really weird. Everything kept ending too quickly and it took me awhile to get adjusted to it. I guess my problem with the recent generation of girl meets boy stories for the younger set is that they all feel slightly contrived and forced. Nothing feels natural. There's a lack of emotion even if all the set pieces are in place and the marks are hit.
Adventureland was by no means bad, but it wasn't great either. I wanted it to be great. As a side note, there was no reason to set this film in the Eighties, or to make it post-college. It actually seemed like it was about high schoolers, and I had to constantly remind myself that the characters were twenty one and over.
In the ongoing search for the next great girl meets boy movie, let us prepare ourselves for "(500) Days of Summer" starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt -- aka Cobra Commander. The trailer looks promising doesn't it?
