Adventureland

3Director Greg Mottola (Superbad) based this one on his experiences working at Adventureland in the ’80s. He actually worked in the crappy park in Farmingdale, Long Island. (I grew up near it, and it sucked.) It’s undergone a major renovation since then, so he’s moved the action to some rundown park in Pennsylvania. This is basically a coming-of-age story starring Jesse Eisenberg as a high school grad trying to make some money to pay a pricey school’s tuition. He falls in love with a troubled youth—Kristen Stewart, making up a little bit for Twilight—and learns some life lessons and how to MC one of those stupid cardboard horse race games. Not nearly the laugh riot that Superbad was, and not groundbreaking at all when you get down to it. But the performances are good, and the storytelling is competent. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig provide comic relief.