Adventureland

Red band trailer aside, director Greg Mottola's Adventureland bears little in common with his previous effort Superbad. There's less raunch here, and a little more heart. It's like a slightly lesser, reverse version of Almost Famous, minus the rock star antics and including an excellent period soundtrack.

Set in Pittsburgh in 1987, Adventureland centers on James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), a recent college grad who finds his degree in comparative lit won't get him many jobs in the city while he bides his time waiting to go to grad school at Columbia. His last, best chance lies at Adventureland, a local amusement park, where his childhood best friend (and current ball buster) Frigo (Matt Bush) spends his days. Hired by Bobby (Bill Hader), James takes a bottom-of-the-barrel job working in games, where the sole bright spots are nerdy Joel (Martin Starr) and pretty Em (Kristen Stewart). Pot and alcohol fuel the summer fun, and James attempts to mend a broken heart and cure his unwanted case of virginity with help from Em.

There's plenty of fun, low-brow humor to be had in Adventureland, but there's more to it than pot cookies, erections, and kicks to the balls. Unrealized dreams lie at the heart of the film, which manages to straddle the gross-out comedy and coming-of-age genres remarkably well. A lot of credit goes to Eisenberg, whose awkwardness works just as well here as it did in The Squid and the Whale. He's likable, earnest, and relatable in his efforts to win over Em. Ryan Reynolds is excellent as the park's handyman, a musician who coasts on the story of how he played with Lou Reed. Hader and fellow SNL star Kristen Wiig also deserve praise for playing the strange couple who run the park. Both are far funnier than their work on the TV show would suggest.

Full of nostalgia, longing, and sincerity, Adventureland might have played better in the theatrical deadzone of August, when its end-of-the-summer feeling would have already been thick in the air-conditioned theaters. Unlike most of its would-be kin, this is a comedy dependent on its nicely crafted characters and mood, not just on the merits of its dirty jokes.