Adventureland Information

Adventureland is a 2009 American period piece comedy-drama film written and directed by Greg Mottola starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Margarita Levieva, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig.

Plot

It is the summer of 1987 and James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), a virgin, has just graduated with a degree in comparative literature from Oberlin College. He is looking forward to touring Europe for the summer and going to Columbia University for graduate school in journalism, when his parents (Wendie Malick and Jack Gilpin) announce they won't be able to help him financially.

James searches for a summer job, but can only find an unappealing one at Adventureland, a local amusement park in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his immature childhood friend Tommy Frigo (Matt Bush) works. James is hired by assistant manager Bobby (Bill Hader) and is assigned to the games area. He meets his co-workers: the sarcastic Joel (Martin Starr), Bobby's wife and park manager Paulette (Kristen Wiig), Sue O'Malley (Paige Howard), Mark (Mark Miller), the alluring Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva), and the park's technician Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds), a part-time musician. Another games worker, Emily "Em" Lewin (Kristen Stewart), saves James from being stabbed by a disgruntled customer.

While her father and stepmother are away, Em has a party where she and James get to know each other. After the party, Connell, who has been having an affair with Em, comes over to further pursue the affair. Later that week, James goes for a drink with Em and she is surprised to learn James has never had sex. After leaving, James and Em share their first kiss. The following day, James tells Connell about his strong feelings for Em, which Connell reports to her. Em later tells James that she wants to take things slow due to problems in her life, leaving James feeling confused and upset. Sue drunkenly makes out with Joel, but rejects him the next day, saying that her Catholic parents would not allow her to date a Jew; outraged, Em calls her an anti-Semite in front of the entire staff. Lisa P. asks James out on a date, but he has mixed feelings because of his relationship with Em. After Connell talks him into going, he decides to accept her offer to go out.

After the date, during which Lisa and James kiss, James learns Em had called to tell him that she regrets having rejected his feelings. James gives Em some of his marijuana to bake pot cookies to cheer her up. Joel later sees James and Em walking together and, irritated by the whole chain of events, decides to quit. James tries to talk him out of quitting, but Joel has had enough of it all. He also tells James he is angry at him for dating Lisa P. when he is already in love with Em. Wanting to be honest, James tells Em about going out with Lisa P. After hearing of this, Em goes to Connell's mother's home to end their affair. Prompted by Frigo, the park's mentally-challenged parking official tells James he saw Em and Connell doing "push-ups without any pants on" in the back of Connell's car.

James goes to Connell's mother's house, which is where Lisa P. told him that Connell takes girls to have sex, and sees Em leaving. Shocked to see James, Em becomes tongue-tied and cannot explain. James leaves angrily, leaving a broken-hearted, crying Em by herself. James tells Lisa P. about the affair and asks her not to tell anyone, but not long after, she tells her friend Kelly. Upon noticing that all the park employees know, Em quits and moves back to New York. James chastises Lisa P. for dismissing Em as a "homewrecker" while seeing Connell as blameless. Heartbroken, he drunkenly crashes his dad's car into a tree and passes out. The next morning, his mother angrily wakes him up and tells him that he has to pay using his summer earnings to fix the damage.

Because he must pay for the car, James doesn't have enough money to go to graduate school. Despite his setbacks, he heads for New York City with his parents' blessing, as they finally decide that it's time to let James do what is best for him. In New York, James waits outside Em's apartment. She is reluctant to talk to him, feeling she has ruined everything. James tells her that he sees her in a different way from the way she sees herself, making it clear that he has fallen in love with her. Touched, Em brings James up to her apartment. James reveals he is not going to Columbia this year, and considers next year. He gets out of his wet clothes and finds that Em still has an Adventureland shirt. They kiss and begin to take their clothes off. James asks, "Are we really doing this?", and Em says "I think so."

Cast

• Jesse Eisenberg as James Brennan, a recent college graduate who majored in Comparative Literature and Renaissance Studies. He is an aspiring journalist who has to get a summer job so he can afford to go to Columbia University in New York. The only job he can get is in the games at the Adventureland theme park. He is a virgin and occasional marijuana smoker. Throughout his summer working in Adventureland, Brennan develops a relationship with his co-worker, Emily "Em" Lewin.
• Kristen Stewart as Emily "Em" Lewin, one of James' Adventureland co-workers and love interest. She has a troubled home life, she hates her stepmother and resents her father for remarrying so soon after her mother's death from cancer. She is a student at NYU but her father is a rich lawyer and she works in the games at the theme park even though she doesn't need to, mostly as a reason to get out of the house. She is secretly having an affair with the park's maintenance man, Mike Connell, but eventually calls it off, and quits Adventureland after her affair becomes public knowledge.
• Ryan Reynolds as Mike Connell, the park's maintenance man, married to a woman named Ronnie. He is also a part time musician who claims to have jammed with Lou Reed. Through slips in his musical knowledge, it becomes apparent to James that this is not true. He has cheated on his wife with different girls and, by the beginning of the story, with Em.
• Martin Starr as Joel, one of James' co-workers at the games in Adventureland and James' friend in the summer. A college graduate in Russian literature and Slavic languages, a degree which he claims will get him a job as a "cabbie, hot dog vendor," or "marijuana delivery guy." He eventually quits the park after being attacked by a disgruntled customer and leaves Pittsburgh to head for an undisclosed location. He enjoys smoking a pipe, although he calls it a "revolting affectation."
• Matt Bush as Tommy Frigo, James' childhood best friend; though they aren't good friends any more, James still manages to tolerate Frigo's immaturity and cruelty. Frigo constantly teases James and hits him in the testicles, repeatedly, often bringing him to his knees in pain. He even goes so far as to blackmail James about his date with Lisa P. At the end of the film, James hits Frigo in the testicles first for once before heading off to New York, finally getting his revenge.
• Margarita Levieva as Lisa P., one of the rides operators at the Adventureland park. A seductive girl to whom all the park's employees are attracted. Her father was injured and is now unable to work, and she bonds with James after he shows some sympathy for her. She invites James out on a date, but he leaves her to go back with Em. She eventually tells her friends at the park that Em is having an affair with Connell, a secret she told James she would not reveal.
• Bill Hader as Bobby, the eccentric assistant manager of Adventureland. He is extremely intolerant of people who litter but is very supportive of his employees and caring for his wife.
• Kristen Wiig as Paulette, Bobby's wife and manager of Adventureland. She is often as eccentric as her husband but is much more quiet.
• Mary Birdsong as Francy, Em's stepmother. She married Em's father shortly after the death of Em's mother. After her first divorce, she lost her hair from the stress of a nervous breakdown and wears a wig. Em says that if she were not a "status-obsessed witch", she might feel bad for her.
• Josh Pais as Mr. Lewin, Em's father and Francy's husband. He met Francy at temple while his first wife was slowly dying in the hospital. He married Francy, soon after Em's mother died.
• Jack Gilpin as Mr. Brennan, James' father. He loses his job and transfers to a different office. He is an alcoholic, but he tries to hide his drinking from his family. James finds a bottle of scotch underneath his dad's car seat, and he drinks the bottle while driving and crashes into his neighbor's tree. He doesn't tell his mother that the bottle belonged to his father.
• Wendie Malick as Mrs. Brennan, James' mother. She is the one that lets James know they can't help them pay for his trip or graduate school. She supplies the discipline of the two parents. However at the end of the film, she decides to let James go off to New York City.

Production

Adventureland was filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from December 2007 to January 2008, with most scenes shot in Kennywood, a historic amusement park in nearby West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. 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 falling behind the actors. Internet star Justine Ezarik makes an uncredited cameo appearance as she was already in Kennywood when filming started.

Release

The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and went on general release on April 3, 2009. The film was also screened at the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Critical response

Adventureland opened to largely positive reviews with an 89% based on 206 reviews and considered "Certified Fresh" on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

Metacritic gave the film an aggregate rating of 76 based on 34 select critics.

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

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for the Gotham Independent Film Awards "Best Ensemble Cast", scheduled in New York City on November 30, 2009.

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

Jesse Eisenberg was nominated for Favorite Male Breakthrough Performance at the Teen Choice Awards for his performance and also for his work in Zombieland.

Home media

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

Soundtrack

A total of 41 songs were licensed for use in the film. The soundtrack includes 14 songs and was released on April 1, 2009. 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 Reynold'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.

Additional songs

A selection of the songs not included on the soundtrack album:

"Obsession" by Animotion

"In the Ether" by Black Swan Lane

"Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House (Plays in the amusement park.)

"Point of No Return" by Exposé (Plays in the Razzmatazz club at 49:15.)

"Taste of Cindy" (acoustic version) by The Jesus and Mary Chain

"Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest - (Plays as James is chased through the park by an angry patron.)

"In My House" by Mary Jane Girls (Plays when James and Lisa P are in the Razzmatazz club at 1:20:44.)

"So It Goes" by Nick Lowe

"I Want Action" by Poison

"Bastards of Young" by The Replacements (Played during the opening sequence.)

"Tops" by The Rolling Stones (Played in the scene "Lisa P is back" at 27:11.)

"Limelight" by Rush (Munch, one of the games workers, does a poor rendition in an attempt to impress Em, also included in the trailer.)

"Let the Music Play" by Shannon (Plays as Lisa P dances in front of a thrill ride at 45:25.)

"Here She Comes Now" by The Velvet Underground (Plays during the opening credits.)

"Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes (Used in the trailer.)

"Dance Hall Days" by Wang Chung

"Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake