Adventureland is your typical “The Summer That Changed My Life” movie. While it is a cookie cutter genre picture, I still liked it. Held down by Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, Adventureland is the name of the amusement park that the kids work in.
It’s the late 80’s and James is just out of college when his European trip is cancelled due to his father losing his job and being relocated. Off to Pittsburgh, James gets a job at the amusement park to save up and move to NYC for graduate school when his friend gets back from Europe at the end of the summer.
Cue love triangle with the troubled girl and the douchebag guy, partying, fights and other such youthful trials and tribulations. The cast is great, the acting solid and the direction safe. The biggest knock against the movie is that it’s nothing special, but it isn’t a bad movie. It’s a solid story of growing up that’s entertaining enough to keep you for it’s hour and a half or so run time. It’s got some good laughs here and there making it a great movie for a rainy day.