Adventureland

"Adventureland" is a coming-of-age dramedy about a recent college graduate. No one will applaud it for originality. But neither will they accuse it of insincerity.

At a time when it seems like 40 percent of Hollywood releases are blood and or boob vehicles for adolescent men, it's nice to see a film explore the male perspective in a more intelligent vein.

Written and directed by Greg Mottola, "Adventureland" stars Jesse Eisenberg as James, a socially awkward pseudo-intellectual. He plans to take the requisite trip to Europe before beginning graduate school. But when his parents' finances take a hit, his plans get downgraded to working at a theme park in Pittsburgh in the summer of 1987.

Here he meets a motley band of amusingly written stereotypes, including the crazy park manager, the hot girl and the brooding depressive. But his most important new acquaintance is Em (Kristen Stewart). As soon as Em and James meet, we know their fate. But Mottola creates enough reasonable obstacles in their courtship that the plot doesn't feel labored.

The chief barrier is Em's affair with the park's maintenance guy, Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds). Inside the park Connell gives off an impenetrable aura of coolness. Outside, he takes women to his mother's basement to cheat on his wife.

Em's attraction to Connell is a symptom of her low self-esteem, which is explained by her dysfunctional family situation. Her mother has died of cancer and her father has remarried a wicked stepmother. James' own parents are similarly unsupportive and irresponsible: his father hides a bottle of liquor in the car, which James uses with unfortunate consequences.

These characters amount to yet another lampooning of the Baby Boomers for irresponsibility. There's some truth and some unfairness in the accusation, but at least it's used here to help explain the protagonists' background and motivations.

Mottola's previous work was as director of "Superbad," but he has replaced most of that film's crude humor here with quality filmmaking. He strikes just the right balance between comedy and drama, and moves the film along at a varied pace. Some scenes fly by, while other plotlines are drawn out. This pacing matches the speed of life; time can seem to drag on forever, and then suddenly events happen in a flurry.

Mottola also aptly evokes the '80s with a soundtrack featuring the Replacements and the Cure. The cinematography always feels appropriate for the scene, varying from close-ups to hand held shots.

"Adventureland" is hardly perfect. The final quarter of the movie veers a bit wildly, as Mottola seeks to bring James down before his inevitable redemption. But with well-made, charming films as rare these days as slasher flicks are common, we should celebrate "Adventureland" in spite of its flaws.