Adventureland (2009)

ReviewSuperbad was an entertaining film. A little crude, a little crass and rather too in thrall to the spirit of Porky's perhaps, but it was touching enough to stand apart from the mass of modern teen movies. And in Greg Mottola, it had a director able to pick up the batton passed down by the Weitz brothers (American Pie) and fumbled by a legion of gross out-fixated filmmakers.

A lot of people might assume Adventureland is cut from the same cloth as Superbad. Those audience members are going to be disappointed, however, for while it might feature a young man obsessed with hitting his best friend in the balls, Mottola's follow-up owes more to his quirky debut The Daytrippers and his understated TV work, principally 'Arrested Development'. In interviews, the writer-director has described his latest picture as his attempt to make a Woody Allen movie, which seems a strange thing to say given that Adventureland is warmer, more refreshing and far funnier than anything Mr Konigsberg has made since Soon-Yi came along.

It's New York state, the 1980s, and James (Roger Dodger's Jesse Eisenberg) is having a rough trot. While his wealthy friends head off to Europe, Jim's relative poverty means he'll spend his pre-college period manning booths at his local theme park. Not that Adventureland is the Long Island equivalent of Disney World. A rundown establishment held together by the love of its husband-and-wife owners Bobby and Paulette (Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig), it's a dire place for a young person to be tied to. But it's here that James will gain the sort of experience he'd never have got from gallivanting courtesy of a host of notable customers and co-workers and an enigmatic young lady called Em (Kristen Stewart who's done a great job of growing up since 2002's Panic Room).