Adventureland

It’s summer, 1987. James Brennan (Eisenberg) is your average guy looking for an even more average summer job after financial difficulties mean his planned European tour is down the drain. When he eventually gets hired, he finds himself landed at the dilapidated local amusement park, Adventureland. He soon discovers a number of outlandish characters, but one in particular catches his eye - the stunningly beautiful but serenely cool Em Lewin (Stewart). What unfolds is an emotional tale about love, trust and profound mistakes – all in the middle of a crazily tacky theme park.

So, Adventureland isn’t as comedy-oriented as Superbad, Mottola’s successful teen comedy from a couple of years back. Yet what makes this film so much more admirable is its effortless humour and originality. The gags come from the performance rather than the script and Bill Hader steals the show with his incredibly animated and hilarious performance as Bobby, the park owner – the film is well worth watching just for that.

In many ways, the feel of the film on an emotional level is very similar to Juno. Indeed the role of James seems as though it was perfectly scripted for Michael Cera, who has this uncanny ability to pull off one-liners with a completely innocent look upon his face. While Eisenberg does a decent job, the close scenes with Stewart sometimes don‘t feel believable.

The main thing to stress about Adventureland, though, is that it has the perfect balance of comedy and heartache set in the wackiest, craziest, most colourful '80s amusement park you can imagine – so go and see the mischief for yourself!

Natasha Bullen