I knew the leading actor from The Social Network was in it, I knew about the setting, and I knew the critics give it a good rating, I was looking forward to whatever it had to offer, directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad, Paul). Basically set in 1987, at the beginning of summer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, young adult James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) has graduated from Oberlin College with a comparative literature degree, but he inexperienced in many ways, including being a virgin. He has plans to spend the summer touring Europe with his best friend Eric (Michael Zegen), before heading to New York City to attend a journalism graduate school at Columbia University, but his parents, Mr. Brennan (Jack Gilpin) and Mrs. Brennan (Wendie Malick), announce they can no longer financially support him. James has no real skills, but he is forced to take the only job he can get, at a third rate amusement park called Adventureland, assistant manager Bobby (Bill Hader) assigns him to be one of many games operators, most of the games themselves are fixed. James's co- workers include the sarcastic Joel (Martin Starr); park manager and Bobby's wife Paulette (Kristen Wiig); the alluring Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva); and the park's maintenance man/technician and part-time musician Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds). James believes he has died and gone to hell, until an incident with a cheating, threatening customer brings along Emily "Em" Lewin (Twilight's Kristen Stewart), another games worker, who saves him, he is instantly attracted to her, and with no real experience with women, Mike takes him under his wing to give him advice. James and Em becomes good friends, slowly they embark on a relationship, and have their first kiss, but she wants to take things slowly, James is upset, and when Lisa P. asks him on a date, he eventually accepts, during it they kiss. After the date, James learns Em had called apologising for rejecting him, Joel is irritated about James being with Lisa P., James unsuccessfully tries to convince him to stop quitting, James is honest with Em about going out with Lisa P., hearing this she ends her affair with Connell. James goes to Connell's mother's house, where he apparently takes girls for sex, he is upset to see Em walk out, James spreads the word around, Em quits in anger and moves to New York, James is heartbroken, gets drunk and drives his father's car into a tree, the following morning his mother tells him he must pay for the damage with his summer earnings. James no longer has enough to attend graduate school like he wanted, but with his parents' blessing he heads to New York anyway, meeting Em at her apartment she is reluctant to talk to him, but she is touched by what he tells her, he reveals he will wait for next year to go to Columbia, and they embrace, removing their clothes, implying they will have sex. Also starring Josh Pais as Mr. Lewin, Mary Birdsong as Francy and Paige Howard as Sue O'Malley. Eisenberg is great as the vulnerable, nerdy every man, and Stewart is good as his smart but melancholy love interest, this is not the typical teen movie, most are filled with gross-out jokes and outrageous behaviour, but this one is a more heartfelt, focusing simply on the relationships between characters, and leaving room for 1980s nostalgia, a simple but most effective coming-of-age comedy drama. Very good!

Following his parents' change in financial situation James Brennan's promised post-graduation trip around Europe is off... in fact if he doesn't get a job so is his post-grad course at Columbia University. There isn't much work around and eventually he gets a low paid job at 'Adventureland'; a fun park where the games are rigged and the rides aren't that safe. It isn't all bad though he meets Emily 'Em' Lewin; they quickly become friends and it looks like a relationship could bloom. There will be problems though; not least that unbeknownst to James she is having an affair with a married man.

If you are looking for a laugh-riot then you are likely to be disappointed; there are sufficient laughs but most of them are more gentle. There are also more downbeat elements; neither James nor Em's families are exactly what one would hope for. The romance features the expected ups and downs and possibilities that they could end up with other people, or alone. Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart impress as James and Em, making their relationship feel real. The supporting cast is pretty solid too. The '80s setting provides a good excuse for period music but it doesn't make it feel like as '80s film not that that is necessarily a bad thing. The fun park setting was good; it's slightly rundown look and the knowledge that the games were fixed added a layer of depression but also made it more enjoyably when things went well for characters. Overall I'd recommend this; just don't expect a full-on comedy.

It's the summer of 1987. College student James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) is still a virgin. He needs a little bit more money to go to Europe but his parents reveal that his dad got a lesser job with less money. His parents can't pay for grad school at Columbia in NYC and James needs to get a job. He gets a summer job at the local rundown amusement park Adventureland in Pittsburg. The park is run by Paulette (Kristen Wiig) and Bobby (Bill Hader). Joel (Martin Starr) shows him the rigged games. He falls hard for co-worker Emily Lewin (Kristen Stewart). Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds) is the cool maintenance guy.

It's a charming coming-of-age movie. It's got the nostalgia factor in spades. The 80s music does a lot of the work. It has the feel of familiarity and it has the comfort of a well worn genre. Writer/director Greg Mottola was the director of Superbad and has probably collected enough credibility to explain the great comedic actors here. The actors are all great from top to bottom. Wiig and Hader are hilarious together. Eisenberg returns to his usual character as a college student this time around. Kristen Stewart is the more mature woman and actually does a reasonable job as the object of desire. Ryan Reynolds is the charming rogue. Everybody does a good job.