Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Adventureland is my new favorite movie.

I wasn't going to blog about Adventureland, because it seems kind of unnecessary. Like, hey, you know that movie that looks really good and got really good reviews? Well, I thought it was really good! But I just can't stop myself. Adventureland is so perfect, I'm compelled to gush about its brilliance.

Personally, I love movies that are smart and understated, full of moments that feel poignant and insightful, truthful yet absurd. I find them life-affirming, probably because I tend to see life as a series of poignant or absurd moments.

Last summer, I wanted to love The Wackness, because it's that type of movie. It's meandering and musing and playful and it feels real and raw and honest. But The Wackness is also extremely flawed, and the flaws distracted me so much that as much as I liked it, I just couldn't love it.

Adventureland is sort of like The Wackness, except that it's flawless. It has a coherence, a unity of vision that generally only occurs when there is a real writer/director involved. It's a good story, executed perfectly. The structure, the dialogue, the characters, the acting, the atmosphere...I honestly thought that every element was on point. And it was a lot of fun to watch, which is really the most important thing.

I'm pretty sure this is the first time I have ever walked out of a movie theater and thought, "There is not one single thing I would have changed about that movie. I have no criticisms or complaints whatsoever." I was happy to sit in a theater and be entertained by it, and I was happy to leave the theater knowing that this film now exists in the world, like another gleaming, polished gem.

So, yeah, if you haven't seen Adventureland yet, I recommend it.

2 comments:

Ed said...

Adventureland was definitely an awesome movie. Kristen Stewart is incredible. She is definitely the catalyst for a lot of the authentic moments in the movie. My only complaint is that the main character is very typical. Smart, eccentric and seemingly has no problems with girls although he's graduated college a virgin. I just think that concept has been done and having a more normal main character wouldn't be the end of the world. Then again, I understand that most of the screenwriters that create movies like Adventureland were those guys and that's why there are a lot of main characters like this.

Its a great movie. I would definitely recommend it to anybody.

A said...

I just love this movie! It's was so cute and perfect and the soundtrack was so good!! At first, i thought it would be a comedy, but it was more like drama. But with some pretty funny jokes. I've watch this movie at least 3-4 times and I think that James (Eisenberg) and Em (Stewart) are So cute together!!
And I also love that they have a character that Lisa P in this movie.