About a third of the way through the 1987-set comedy Adventureland, the main character does a very ’80s thing and creates a mix tape for the young woman for whom he has developed an infatuation.  He describes it as a tape of his top “bummer” songs… and about halfway through the movie, I felt “bummer” was a better description of the film itself that I certainly would have expected.  Whereas the trailers and advertisements for the film make it appear closer in vein with the pure gross-out, sex comedy that was writer/director Greg Mottola’s previous work, Superbad, Adventureland actually turns out to have a slightly darker, more involved plotline.

Like many guys who made mix tapes in the ’80s—yes, myself included—James Brennan is an overly sensitive, slightly insecure young man.  He’s the kind of guy who has his heart broken after only an eleven day “relationship.”  The upside is that he has just graduated from college and is about to embark on a European summer tour before moving to New York City for graduate school the following fall.  Unfortunately, that plan is foiled when his parents inform him they can no longer pay for it.  James finds himself on the job market, but sadly he is qualified for nothing and must reluctantly accept a job running the various boardwalk games at the local amusement park.

James has no motivation to do “the work of pathetic, lazy morons,” but when he meets his beautiful co-worker Em, he finds himself suddenly forgetting his recent broken heart and creates all-new mix tapes.  Unfortunately, Em is involved with the park’s married maintenance man, Mike Connell, who claims to have jammed with Lou Reed, even though he doesn’t seem to know any of his songs.  Things get even more complicated for James when the Park’s resident hottie Lisa P. returns and shows some interest in him.

Although I opened this review by describing the film as a “bummer,” I would like to point out that “bummer” does not necessarily translate into “dull” or even “disappointing.”  The movie is pretty much filled from start to finish with plenty of humorous dialogue, thanks in large part to terrific supporting performances by Martin Starr and Saturday Night Live veterans Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig.  Hader and Wiig are the married managers of the amusement park and they steal each and every scene in which they appear.

The “bummer” feeling I refer to comes from the emotional rollercoaster taken by Kristen Stewart’s Em in her relationship both with the married mechanic and her status-hungry step-mother; and in the pain of watching Jesse Eisenberg’s James so quickly fall into the trap of the no less attractive, but far more empty Lisa P., just because she may be slightly less of a challenge.  These conflicts may be a surprise for audience members expecting just another raucous teen/twenty-something comedy, but they make for deeper, more resonant and, frankly, more interesting characters.  I give credit to Mottola—who based this film on his own experiences—for not just settling for making just another nasty comic romp.

It doesn’t always work.  The balance between the comedy and the pathos seemed a bit uneven and I’m still not quite sure whether I truly liked the ending or not, but at least it gave me something to think about.  I also wish Mottola would have taken more advantage of the fact that this story took place in the ’80s, a decade that is ripe for mining comedy.  Still, it’s obvious from the film’s more serious side that the director was not aiming to make another Wedding Singer, but instead a story about characters that are very close to him.  For the most part he succeeded; and Adventureland is worth the price of admission.

Adventureland is rated R for “language, drug use and sexual references.”  I actually was surprised to see this movie have an R rating.  There certainly is some dirty dialogue and lots and lots of pot smoking, but I thought this could have passed for a PG-13.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Jeff attended a promotional screening of Adventureland.