How The Hell Is Adventureland
Already 10 Years Old?
By Austin Johnson
From Paul Westerberg’s scream in the title song, "Bastards of Young," all the way to our beautiful reunion of James and Em in New York City, Adventureland hits home for so many people. The film will turn 10 years old this April and I don’t know if there is a movie I’ve rewatched more since it came out. A few weeks ago, I quoted the movie while shooting around with some friends, and one of them said, “that’s my go-to movie for when I’m bored.” That is so damn relatable. You can be bored, put Adventureland on, and then you’re not bored anymore. Isn’t that exactly what we want out of a movie?
James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) is introduced as a dude who clearly can’t talk to girls very well, in fact, he is revealed to be a virgin after we see him discussing plans to go overseas with his buddy, Eric (Michael Zegen). James gets dumped by a girl who seems to have no interest in him, but Eric quickly comforts him with a drink and claims that going to Europe will be a transformative experience for the both of them. Right after that bit of dialogue, we see James graduate and go to dinner with his parents, where they admit that they don’t have enough money to send him to Europe after all. It’s all good though, because Eric leaves James with a shit ton of pot to smoke for his summer spent at home in Pittsburgh.
Now, one of the things that makes this movie so rewatchable is how easily we are introduced to all the characters. It has one of those casts that makes the audience feel like a part of the action. The writing also has to be praised highly, because this movie pivots off of some hilarious, yet reflective dialogue. That writing was solely done by Greg Motolla, who also directed the movie. He hadn’t done the ol' one two in writing and directing since 1996 with the also fucking awesome movie, The Daytrippers. With Adventureland, Motolla created a group of people that we can quote and cherish forever, just as the movie itself makes countless
references to pop culture from its time period, the 80’s.
This isn’t just like all the other bright 80’s disco settings we always see though. In fact, we see the main characters making fun of popular music. At one point, Brennan and Joel (Martin Starr) are working together, while "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco is playing in the background, causing Joel to say, “Fucking Sadists!” There will always be people like Joel in our society who are willing to call out the shitty pop music that plays on the radio. Brennan and Em (Kristen Stewart) both listen to artists like Lou Reed, The Replacements, and Husker Du. Em and Joel are the first two co workers that Brennan gets along with at his summer job, as he already has history with Frigo (Matt Bush), another co worker that Brennan has known since childhood. For whatever reason, Frigo fucking loves to hit Brennan right in the nuts with his fist. It’s pretty much a guarantee anytime they’re on screen together. Actually, Frigo just likes to fuck with Brennan as much as possible. We see him peeing on a window to distract Brennan from talking to Em, we hear him scream out “BONER!” at Brennan as he comes out of a pool during a party, and we also hear him tease Brennan about being assigned to games as he is riding on train with children calling him a pussy. Frigo does have one solid bit of a dialogue, when he mentions to Brennan that the janitor, Connell (Ryan Reynolds), had jammed with Lou Reed in the past.
Connell is a major badass that all the male workers want to be, and Em is having a fling with. He’s a married man, with secrets that him and Em keep. Em knows, he knows, but none of the other Adventureland employees know. Em seems to see her and Connel’s thing as strictly physical, so she gets closer to Brennan, causing quite the love triangle. The best seat in the house definitely goes Joel, who observes every action, sometimes with a corn dog in his hand. Reminds me of the funniest scene in the movie when Brennan joins Joel in his backyard for a chat. His little brother is mowing the lawn, causing friction between the two brothers for a moment. We get a classic line from the little brother right after he shuts off the mower, screaming at Joel, “Fuck off fuck face!” and then he storms out of the scene, leaving Joel and Brennan to discuss Em.
The love triangle becomes a square when Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva) gets involved. Lisa P’s entrance is incredible with her walking in slow motion to Tops by the Rolling fucking Stones. Rich (Stephen Mast) is the guy who is probably a lifer at Adventureland. He is a few paces ahead of Lisa P. during her entrance, giving a heads up to everyone, and giving us a quote that will never die, “Lisa P. is back!” That is followed by hilariously crafted dialogue from Joel, who claims to have had dreams about Lisa P. and some portal. Em and Connell are a thing, Em and Brennan are a thing, Connell is married, and Lisa P. goes on a date with Brennan, smokes pot with Brennan, and shares a secret with the entire park that Brennan told her. So many mistakes made! Again, Joel has the best seat in the house.
That seat comes with its own cons, but Joel is very aware of who he is. He makes references to authors and smokes tobacco out of a pipe, gotta love it. The employees go out dancing one night, with Joel spending his time with Sue (Paige Howard). The two make out, surprising themselves equally. Joel approaches Sue the next day at work, but she doesn’t want anything to do with him. This leads to his conversation with Brennan in his backyard, where he breaks down the difference between himself and Brennan. Without Joel, Brennan probably wouldn’t have lasted at Adventureland. Shit, Joel drives him to the bus station, so that he can go to be with Em in New York.
Brennan shows some serious love for his friend when they are both stoned off their asses at work. They are working the stand where you throw balls at mannequins to try and make their hats fall off. This douchebag hits one, but the hat stays on, so the douche says, “I hit that thing dead on.” Joel smiles and replies with, “yet he retains his chapeau.” That remark makes all of us laugh, but the douche punches Joel right in the face. Brennan goes way out of his comfort zone and nails the douche right in the stomach, which cues Judas Priest’s "Breaking the Law" as Brennan sprints away for his life. Thank God Brennan decided to go into Bobby (Bill Hader) and Paulette’s (Kristen Wiig) office for help, because that opened the door for Paulette to exquisitely hand Bobby a baseball bat and scare the douche away, screaming “Just give me one fucking reason! You don’t know what I’m capable of!”
There is no way you got this far without having seen the movie already. It’s a cult classic that explains how it really is in your early twenties, even if it’s set thirty years ago. It’s one of those things where if you know, then you know. Motolla had just directed Superbad two years prior to Adventureland, making 170 million in the box office. His 2009 endeavor made about 18
million, but that doesn’t mean anything to those who know what Adventureland has to offer. Its fans are so strong that it will have a second life, third life, it will never die, because that’s what timeless movies do.
James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) is introduced as a dude who clearly can’t talk to girls very well, in fact, he is revealed to be a virgin after we see him discussing plans to go overseas with his buddy, Eric (Michael Zegen). James gets dumped by a girl who seems to have no interest in him, but Eric quickly comforts him with a drink and claims that going to Europe will be a transformative experience for the both of them. Right after that bit of dialogue, we see James graduate and go to dinner with his parents, where they admit that they don’t have enough money to send him to Europe after all. It’s all good though, because Eric leaves James with a shit ton of pot to smoke for his summer spent at home in Pittsburgh.
Now, one of the things that makes this movie so rewatchable is how easily we are introduced to all the characters. It has one of those casts that makes the audience feel like a part of the action. The writing also has to be praised highly, because this movie pivots off of some hilarious, yet reflective dialogue. That writing was solely done by Greg Motolla, who also directed the movie. He hadn’t done the ol' one two in writing and directing since 1996 with the also fucking awesome movie, The Daytrippers. With Adventureland, Motolla created a group of people that we can quote and cherish forever, just as the movie itself makes countless
references to pop culture from its time period, the 80’s.
This isn’t just like all the other bright 80’s disco settings we always see though. In fact, we see the main characters making fun of popular music. At one point, Brennan and Joel (Martin Starr) are working together, while "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco is playing in the background, causing Joel to say, “Fucking Sadists!” There will always be people like Joel in our society who are willing to call out the shitty pop music that plays on the radio. Brennan and Em (Kristen Stewart) both listen to artists like Lou Reed, The Replacements, and Husker Du. Em and Joel are the first two co workers that Brennan gets along with at his summer job, as he already has history with Frigo (Matt Bush), another co worker that Brennan has known since childhood. For whatever reason, Frigo fucking loves to hit Brennan right in the nuts with his fist. It’s pretty much a guarantee anytime they’re on screen together. Actually, Frigo just likes to fuck with Brennan as much as possible. We see him peeing on a window to distract Brennan from talking to Em, we hear him scream out “BONER!” at Brennan as he comes out of a pool during a party, and we also hear him tease Brennan about being assigned to games as he is riding on train with children calling him a pussy. Frigo does have one solid bit of a dialogue, when he mentions to Brennan that the janitor, Connell (Ryan Reynolds), had jammed with Lou Reed in the past.
Connell is a major badass that all the male workers want to be, and Em is having a fling with. He’s a married man, with secrets that him and Em keep. Em knows, he knows, but none of the other Adventureland employees know. Em seems to see her and Connel’s thing as strictly physical, so she gets closer to Brennan, causing quite the love triangle. The best seat in the house definitely goes Joel, who observes every action, sometimes with a corn dog in his hand. Reminds me of the funniest scene in the movie when Brennan joins Joel in his backyard for a chat. His little brother is mowing the lawn, causing friction between the two brothers for a moment. We get a classic line from the little brother right after he shuts off the mower, screaming at Joel, “Fuck off fuck face!” and then he storms out of the scene, leaving Joel and Brennan to discuss Em.
The love triangle becomes a square when Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva) gets involved. Lisa P’s entrance is incredible with her walking in slow motion to Tops by the Rolling fucking Stones. Rich (Stephen Mast) is the guy who is probably a lifer at Adventureland. He is a few paces ahead of Lisa P. during her entrance, giving a heads up to everyone, and giving us a quote that will never die, “Lisa P. is back!” That is followed by hilariously crafted dialogue from Joel, who claims to have had dreams about Lisa P. and some portal. Em and Connell are a thing, Em and Brennan are a thing, Connell is married, and Lisa P. goes on a date with Brennan, smokes pot with Brennan, and shares a secret with the entire park that Brennan told her. So many mistakes made! Again, Joel has the best seat in the house.
That seat comes with its own cons, but Joel is very aware of who he is. He makes references to authors and smokes tobacco out of a pipe, gotta love it. The employees go out dancing one night, with Joel spending his time with Sue (Paige Howard). The two make out, surprising themselves equally. Joel approaches Sue the next day at work, but she doesn’t want anything to do with him. This leads to his conversation with Brennan in his backyard, where he breaks down the difference between himself and Brennan. Without Joel, Brennan probably wouldn’t have lasted at Adventureland. Shit, Joel drives him to the bus station, so that he can go to be with Em in New York.
Brennan shows some serious love for his friend when they are both stoned off their asses at work. They are working the stand where you throw balls at mannequins to try and make their hats fall off. This douchebag hits one, but the hat stays on, so the douche says, “I hit that thing dead on.” Joel smiles and replies with, “yet he retains his chapeau.” That remark makes all of us laugh, but the douche punches Joel right in the face. Brennan goes way out of his comfort zone and nails the douche right in the stomach, which cues Judas Priest’s "Breaking the Law" as Brennan sprints away for his life. Thank God Brennan decided to go into Bobby (Bill Hader) and Paulette’s (Kristen Wiig) office for help, because that opened the door for Paulette to exquisitely hand Bobby a baseball bat and scare the douche away, screaming “Just give me one fucking reason! You don’t know what I’m capable of!”
There is no way you got this far without having seen the movie already. It’s a cult classic that explains how it really is in your early twenties, even if it’s set thirty years ago. It’s one of those things where if you know, then you know. Motolla had just directed Superbad two years prior to Adventureland, making 170 million in the box office. His 2009 endeavor made about 18
million, but that doesn’t mean anything to those who know what Adventureland has to offer. Its fans are so strong that it will have a second life, third life, it will never die, because that’s what timeless movies do.