Stepping out for a talkie

It had been a while since I had last gone to my local picture show and I had a gift card that I received for Christmas which I had yet to use. So, I went to see Adventureland.

Before I get into the movie, there are a couple of things that I found out at the theatre and wanted to mention them:

• The eternal battle between Star Wars and Star Trek has now invaded our documentaries: after being released two years ago in the United Kingdom, the documentary Earth is finally coming to North America on Earth Day, April 22, 2009. In the UK version, the movie is narrated by Patrick Stewart. For the North American version, the movie will be narrated by James Earl Jones. 
• Surprise, surprise, Sandra Bullock is starring in yet another romantic comedy. In The Proposal, Bullock plays a ball-busting manager who forces her assistant to marry her in order to keep her Visa status and avoid deportation to Canada. With a plot like that, hilarity will definitely ensue...with sexy results.

Anyway, Adventureland was a great movie. Set in 1987, it is a story about a recent university graduate, James Brennan, (played by Jesse Eisenberg) who has to move back home for the summer when his father is demoted at work. To save money for graduate school, James works at an amusement park where he meets his love interest, Em Lewin (played by Kristen Stewart). I found that the movie wasn't your typical sex comedy with over-the-top jokes. The comedy, still very funny, was a bit more muted and unlike Superbad (also directed by Greg Mottola), which was very funny, I didn't feel like a dirty old man watching it.

The performances in Adventureland were great. Bill Hader is hilarious, as usual and I was quite surprised and impressed by the performances of Kristen Stewart and Ryan Reynolds. The soundtrack is awesome, filled with great '80s music.

I would highly recommend this film.