Directed by: Greg Mottola
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Kristen Stewart, Margarita Levieva
Rating: R

Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg in Adventureland. (Courtesy photo)

Don’t we all have intensely fond memories of the amusement parks of our youth—the kind that turn out to be small and grimy when we revisit them years later, but at the time felt as big and fantastical as our imaginations allowed? Adventureland, written and directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad), captures the feel of the Reagan-era amusement park beautifully. It’s less of a laugh riot than it is a simple, sweet, and only slightly raunchy little comedy—more Meatballs than Stripes. In fact, it’s the movie’s groundedness, and Mottola’s insistence on filling his characters with real idiosyncrasies and real points of view, that will keep Adventureland from becoming a big hit. It’s not quite good enough to call a potential cult film—it seems be missing an entire layer of messiness. But Adventureland is the kind of ambling comedy that, like a magical summer, you don’t want to end.

It’s the summer of 1987, and an affluent James (Jesse Eisenberg) plans to spend the summer touring Europe, then head off to graduate school in the fall. Instead family money troubles force James into finding a summer job for the first time. He ends up at the local amusement park, Adventureland. Run by the good-natured but dimwitted couple Bobby and Paulette (Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig), Adventureland is held together by duct tape and the technical wizardry of resident stud Connell (Ryan Reynolds). Outside of striking up a friendship with the morose and philosophical Joel (Martin Starr), James feels hopeless until he meets Em (Kristen Stewart). Guarded but down-to-earth, Em is more than the classic summer crush—that would be hottie virgin Lisa P (Margarita Levieva). As James and Em grow closer and he gets more involved with the other members of the park staff, James begins to have that summer—the one he’ll remember forever. But he’s about the only one who doesn’t know about Em’s secret relationship with the married Connell.

Sex is certainly on the minds of all the characters, but it’s presented in a much more authentic way than most movies about people in their early 20s. The language and marijuana use is also very authentic, which is why Adventureland gets an R rating. That’s too bad, because it’s really a very engaging movie. It doesn’t offer an adult perspective so much as rely on our nostalgia. That makes everything a little awfully neat and tidy, even though James, Em, and Joel are obviously game for something deeper.

Greg Mottola directed 2007’s Superbad, which was a lot broader and filthier than Adventureland, though comparatively authentic. This is obviously a more personal film for Mottola. It’s the kind I’ll probably bring up in a DVD column someday, and it should find its audience over years. Mottola doesn’t quite prove he’s more than just an Apatow protégé, but he takes a step in the right direction.

I didn’t see last year’s phenomenon Twilight, but after Kristen Stewart’s wonderfully honest performance here, I think I’ll give it a try. The alluringly tortured adolescent may be all Stewart does, but her moment-to-moment detail bodes great things in her future. Jesse Eisenberg provides another low-profile but well-received brainy romantic, following Rodger Dodger (2002) and The Squid and the Whale (2005). Eisenberg is very appealing, if a bit mannered—a neat choice as a young leading man. Time will tell if he’ll be more of a character actor in the long run. Martin Starr was heartbreaking as the geekiest of all the Freaks and Geeks. This is his best film role to date, taking advantage of Starr’s mopey smarts and expert deadpan timing. Levieva nails the flirty, flighty Lisa P, all the more impressive since she only moved from native Russia to the United States in her teens. SNLers Hader (Superbad) and Wiig (Ghost Town) are fun, of course, though they aren’t in it as much as the advertisements would have you believe. Only the very reliable Reynolds is out of place. Reynolds (Smokin’ Aces; Definitely, Maybe) looks a little too much the movie star for his small role. And though Mottola wisely avoids pulling humor from the fashions of the era, Reynolds still looks as if his character belongs in 2009, not 1987.

Was Whalom Park where you made your memories, or maybe Storyland? My strongest ones come from a romantic evening at Canobie Lake Park in the summer of 1989. Sigh. Does this make me slightly more affectionate toward the movie than I should be? Isn’t that the point of choosing such a specific time and place? Sure, it all works out a little too well in the end, which somewhat betrays the authenticity. Adventureland offers winning performances and nails its era without sentiment.

Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, California. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard readers for many years.