Adventureland (film)

Last updated
Adventureland
Adventurelandposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Greg Mottola
Written byGreg Mottola
Produced by Sidney Kimmel
Anne Carey
Ted Hope
Starring
Cinematography Terry Stacey
Edited by Anne McCabe
Music by Yo La Tengo
Production
companies
Distributed byMiramax Films
Release date
  • April 3, 2009 (2009-04-03)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$9.8 million [2]
Box office$17.2 million [3]

Adventureland is a 2009 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Greg Mottola. It stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Martin Starr, and Margarita Levieva. In the film, recent college graduate James Brennan (Eisenberg) takes a job at a run-down local amusement park to save for a trip to Europe.

Contents

The theme park is loosely based on the "Adventureland" local theme park in Farmingdale, New York. Released on April 3, 2009, the film received positive reviews and earned $17.1 million worldwide at the box office. It was nominated for "Best Ensemble Cast Performance" at the 19th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards.

Plot

In 1987, James Brennan plans to have a summer vacation in Europe after graduating from Oberlin College. His parents inform him that their current finances will not permit them to support him and he will have to spend the summer working instead. James gets a job working the carnival games at Adventureland, a local amusement park in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his childhood friend Tommy Frigo works. Another games worker, Emily "Em" Lewin, saves James from being stabbed by a cheating customer and offers him a ride home that night.

With her father and stepmother out of town, Em throws a party. At the party, Em and James discover they share a similar taste in music. Em persuades James to join her in her swimming pool, but an unfortunately timed erection humiliates him in front of everyone. After the party, Mike Connell, who is married and has been having an affair with Em, comes over and they have sex.

Despite the illicit affair between Em and Connell, James and Em continue to develop feelings for one another, establishing an easy rapport, and sharing a similar sense of humor and taste in music. James and Connell also become closer as friends, with James confessing to Connell that he loves Em. Em, confused by her relationship with Connell and feelings for James initially balks when James tells her how he feels about her. Saddened by her rejection, James seeks solace by going on a date with another employee at the amusement park, Lisa P., who is fawned over by most of the male staff.

Ridden with guilt after kissing Lisa P., James tells Em about their date but says he'd rather continue to see Em. Moved by James's honesty, Em decides to end her affair with Connell.

However, on the same night she does this, another of James's coworkers tells him he saw Em and Connell having sex in the back of Connell's car. Frigo drives James to Connell's mother's house and they see Em leaving.

Distraught, James confronts Em who breaks down in tears and says she is stupid for continuing to see Connell while also developing her relationship with James.

James tells Lisa about the affair and asks her not to tell anyone, but she tells her friend Kelly and soon afterwards the news spreads throughout the park. Humiliated, Em quits and returns to NYU. James gets drunk, crashes his father's car into their neighbor's tree, and passes out. The impending repairs to the car cost James all of the money he made over the summer.

Additionally, James's college friend/prospective grad school roommate decides to go to Harvard Business School instead of Columbia, leaving James with nowhere to live in New York.

James heads to New York City and waits outside Em's apartment in the rain. When she arrives, she invites him in and they reconcile.

Cast

Production

Adventureland was filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from October 2007 to December 2007, or possibly until January 2008, [4] [5] [6] with most scenes shot in Kennywood, a historic amusement park in nearby West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The park was "heavily" altered to look run-down. [7] The theme park from the film is based on the Farmingdale, New York amusement park Adventureland where Mottola once worked in the 1980s. The scenes of the family home were filmed in a neighborhood named Fox Ridge located in the town of McCandless, a suburb still within Allegheny County and approximately 12 miles north of the city of Pittsburgh. Other scenes were shot in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and the airport area of Moon Township such as the Stardust Lounge.

The story takes place during the summer, but since it was shot in the winter months in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, crews had to often hide snowfall. In some instances, during indoor takes, extras were paid to stand outside surrounding the windows and doors to block the snow from falling behind the actors.

Release

The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival [8] and was theatrically released on April 3, 2009. The film was also screened at the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival. [9]

Box office

In its first week at the box office, Adventureland opened moderately wide in only 1,862 screens grossing $5.7 million ranking #6 at the box office. Despite opening up in fourteen more screens in its second week Adventureland only took in $3.4 million, falling to #9 at the box office. The film concluded its U.S. domestic run on May 28, 2009 with a gross of $16,044,025 and a total international gross of $17,164,377. [3] [2]

Home media

The film was released on August 25, 2009, on DVD and Blu-ray with unrated bonus features. [10]

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 89% based on 218 reviews, with an average rating of 7.30/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Full of humor and nostalgia, Adventureland is a sweet, insightful coming-of-age comedy that will resonate with teens and adults alike." [11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [12]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and wrote: "What surprised me was how much I admired Kristen Stewart, who in Twilight , was playing below her grade level. Here is an actress ready to do important things. Together, and with the others, they make Adventureland more real and more touching than it may sound." [13] Variety 's Todd McCarthy wrote: "A rather ordinary account of youthful summer misadventures that goes down easily thanks to a sparky cast, more than 40 pop tunes that anchor the action in the late '80s and characters who get high both on and off their jobs at a tacky amusement park." [14]

Accolades

The film was nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast, scheduled in New York City on November 30, 2009. [15]

Adventureland was the winner of High Times magazine's 2009 Stoner Movie of the Year Award. Kristen Stewart also received the High Times' 2009 Stonette of the Year Award, due in part to her performance in the film. [16]

Jesse Eisenberg was nominated for Favorite Male Breakthrough Performance at the Teen Choice Awards for his performance in both Adventureland and Zombieland . [17]

Soundtrack

A total of 41 songs were licensed for use in the film. [18] The soundtrack includes 14 songs and was released on April 1, 2009 by Hollywood Records. The songs included are mostly from the 1980s, to fit with the setting of the film, with several tracks from the late 1960s and early 1970s, most notably by The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, the New York Dolls and cult darlings Big Star. The '80s bands represent a cross-section of alternative bands from the time including Hüsker Dü, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Nick Lowe, The Cure, The Replacements, and Crowded House.

The film maintains a notable reverence for Lou Reed, who is idolized by the main character, featured on T-shirts and posters of other cast members, and has likewise elevated the status of the playground mechanic stemming from a rumored jam session with the artist. Earlier versions of the script replaced Lou Reed with singer-songwriter Neil Young as the musician Ryan Reynolds's character had played with, and used Young's songs "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" and "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)" in key scenes.

Adventureland - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No.TitleWriter(s)Location where played in the filmLength
1."Satellite of Love" Lou Reed Played while Connell drives with James to help his mother3:39
2."Modern Love" David Bowie Played in amusement park at 11:033:56
3."I'm in Love with a Girl" Big Star Played during Em's party1:47
4."Just Like Heaven" The Cure Played during the bumper car sequence3:31
5."Rock Me Amadeus" Falco Played frequently over the amusement park speakers, to most of the characters' annoyance3:18
6."Don't Change" INXS Played over the credits4:26
7."Your Love" The Outfield Played when Joel attempts to ask Sue out3:42
8."Don't Dream It's Over" Crowded House Played during the fireworks scene at 41:463:54
9."Looking for a Kiss" New York Dolls Played during Em's party3:18
10."Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely" Hüsker Dü Plays as Em gives James a ride home3:30
11."Unsatisfied" The Replacements Played as James arrives in Manhattan 4:00
12."Pale Blue Eyes" Velvet Underground sung by Lou Reed Played at 33:42 - 1st track on J's Favorite Bummer Songs mixtape5:28
13."Farewell Adventureland" Yo La Tengo  3:40
14."Adventureland Theme Song"Brian Kenney & Ian Berkowitz 0:33
Adventureland - Additional Songs
No.TitleWriter(s)Location where played in the filmLength
1."Obsession" Animotion Characters dance to this in the Razzmatazz club 
2."In the Ether" Black Swan Lane   
3."Point of No Return" Exposé Play in the Razzmatazz club at 49:15 
4."Taste of Cindy acoustic version" The Jesus and Mary Chain   
5."Breaking the Law" Judas Priest Plays as James is chased through the park by an angry patron 
6."In My House" Mary Jane Girls Plays when James and Lisa P are in the Razzmatazz club at 1:20:44 
7."So It Goes" Nick Lowe Record played by Connell when he and Em meet at his mothers house 
8."I Want Action" Poison Video played on TV in Em's room 
9."Bastards of Young" The Replacements Played during the opening sequence 
10."Tops" The Rolling Stones Played in the scene "Lisa P is back" at 27:11 
11."Limelight" Rush Munch, one of the games workers, does a poor rendition in an attempt to impress Em, also included in the trailer 
12."Let the Music Play" Shannon Plays as Lisa P dances in front of a thrill ride at 45:25 
13."Here She Comes Now" The Velvet Underground Plays during opening credits, 5:05, as James's moves back home for the summer. 
14."Blister in the Sun" Violent Femmes Used in the trailer 
15."Dance Hall Days" Wang Chung   
16."Here I Go Again" Whitesnake   

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