Adventureland
Financial problems forces James, a college graduate, to look for a summer job instead of traveling abroad, which places him at Adventureland, a run-down amusement park. When James strikes up a relationship with captivating co-worker Em, the worst summer ever doesn't seem quite so bad.
1983, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
22 March 1986
5 April 1964, Chicago, Illinois, USA
21 June 1964, New York City, New York, USA
1960, Yonkers, New York, USA
May 27, 2016
A film so tuned in to the pre-collegiate experience that scenes which play as comedy to some audiences will land as harrowing tragedy to others.
September 29, 2011
The messages -- about silver linings in lousy jobs, the collision of hormones and heartstrings, and the adventure of discovering who you really are and what you really want -- ring honest and true, for any era.
April 06, 2009
Audiences expecting another dumb wallow will be startled, and I hope enlivened, by this movie's core of feeling.
April 20, 2011
Adventureland's young cast is strong, and, when the film works, it captures the languid limbo of post-adolescent confusion and longing.
April 03, 2009
Adventureland isn't as clever as Kicking, and not nearly as hilarious as Superbad, but it's still a sweet little memory ache, a Proustian cookie co-flavored with semiotics and Whitesnake.
April 06, 2009
The story is semi-autobiographical, but has a gentler touch than his prior work on Superbad, and certainly relies less on slapstick episodes.
April 03, 2009
Adventureland earns its edge-of-adulthood sweetness and has characters with real hearts under their goofy T-shirts.
April 03, 2009
The youths of Superbad were a little bit younger, a little more likable, their dirty-virgin wit more hilarious [than in Adventureland].
June 22, 2013
It's a film of overwhelming goodwill. You'll like everyone in this movie, and you'll leave the theater thinking they would probably like you too.
September 11, 2009
As a sweet-natured character comedy - and a subtle exercise in generic boundary-pushing - this is a real charmer.
August 26, 2011
Adventureland is ultimately an interesting but flawed mixture of Mottolla's early indie sensibility (The Daytrippers) with some of the more mainstream teen comedy elements of Superbad.
