adventureland

I have a crush on Kristen Stewart. Maybe it's because of the dark, emotional roles that seem to attract her. Maybe it was her part in Twilight that got me hooked. But really, I think it's because she gives nerdy guys like me hope in Adventureland.

As Em, the love interest of our socially-inept-yet-lovably-awkward protagonist James (Jesse Eisenberg), Stewart plays an employee at the titular amusement park. A recent college graduate with a degree in Renaissance literature, James is forced to take a job among the always strange, sometimes gorgeous and never typical people at Adventureland. Soon enough, James trips and falls for Em while he tries to turn his summer-and his life-around.

Although it may be advertised as Superbad: Part Deux, this movie is actually a drama about dealing with adulthood. You can laugh at the tubular '80s outfits and Bill Hader as the goofy boss, but Adventureland has a darker tone than you might expect. Every character carries emotional baggage, weighing the film down in places. Plus, Ryan Reynolds burdens an excellent cast, underwhelming and underacting for the first time in his career. I am sorry to say that the guy who made Van Wilder so epic gives a bland performance that flickers like the dead bulb in Adventureland's otherwise bright sign.

If you are like me (meaning you like girls with emotional problems and a penchant for geeks, will receive a degree in something similar to underwater basketweaving and go bonkers when characters mention semiotics), then you will enjoy Adventureland. It's the kind of movie that gives us hope for dealing with our parents, hope for finding work with our "useless" humanities majors and hope for those cliche, forced, only-in-a-movie endings for our relationships.