2009-08-26 15:51:19

ADVENTURELAND RAWKS THE 80s

Filed under: Davidson College,Film,Music
Posted by: Craig

How to create a cult classic? Start with an authentic authorial voice–a lived experience. Add the prism of time. Bring in bittersweet longing. And add a dollop of comic hijinks. The end result is the poetic valentine to the awkward 80s–ADVENTURELAND. This fond remembrance slipped in and out of theaters last Spring. (My partner on Purple State of Mind wrote a glowing review here.) Adventureland now arrives on DVD still waiting to be discovered by those who appreciate a heartfelt story told with frankness and freshness.

If you liked television’s Freaks and Geeks, you will dig Adventureland. They both feature the amazing talents of Mr. Martin Starr (Hooray for Haverchuck!) and mine the same not-so-innocent era. They get the clothes and the cars and the music of the eighties right. From the first chords of The Replacements’ “Bastards of Young,” Adventureland rawks. It compiles the best of punk, new wave, and no wave–basically the soundtrack that got John Marks and I through Davidson College. It also reminds me how the ubiquitous “Rock Me Amadeus” made us dread mainstream radio. But even more, it captures the wistfulness that hung over that era. Yes, the drugs flowed rather freely during my high school daze. And alcohol for the under-aged was much more easily obtained. Somebody (maybe even everybody) had an older brother who was eighteen.

Adventureland explains why so many teens indulged in so many substances. It was the cheapest escape from a fairly mundane time. It is about boredom and generation gaps and how teens process their pain. Director Greg Mottola found broad laughs from high school geekdom in Superbad. While Adventureland has amusing moments, it is a much more nuanced film. Mottola displays plenty of love and affection for his characters. Adventureland clearly arose from his own student experiences.

It follows the awkward adventures of James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) during the summer of ’87. Having just graduated from college, he is eager to travel across Europe before enrolling in grad school at Columbia in the fall. Unfortunately, James discovers that his parents can’t really afford the bill. A summer job at a decrepit amusement park (played by the old school Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh) becomes an occasion for love and loss and all kinds of rites of passage. Kristen Stewart serves as the elusive object of his affection, Em. After starring in several higher profile movies (like Twilight), it is difficult to tell if her blank and sulky demeanor is a performance or simply her persona. James and Em’s relationship is complicated by a scary/slimy/alluring older man played by Ryan Reynolds (although Matthew McConaughey mined the same territory too much greater effect in Richard Linklater’s ode to his youth, Dazed and Confused).

The primary laughs are provided by Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig as the park managers. The dedication they bring to rides and games proves infectious. It reminded me of the painful summer jobs that I had during college. This first exposure to the working world provided fair warning for why you needed to study. You didn’t want to be caught dead at an amusement park or fast food restaurant or warehouse for the next forty years. College was a rare opportunity to forge an alternative path. And like James (and my college roommate John Marks), we got through and got moving elsewhere.

The most appealing character in Adventureland is Martin Starr’s portrait of Joel. He has already developed a thick veneer of cynicism, confident that his Russian literature major with qualify him to be a “hot dog stand vendor or a cabbie in New York.” His romantic longing may be even more intense than James. But his prospects look quite grim. A remarkable (and painful) novel is probably already developing in Joel.

As the back to school season beckons, all kinds of real life summer romances will be put to the test. Do James and Em have a future? Pop in the Adventureland DVD to find out.

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