Adventureland

Wow, this felt like my life. This movie was about recently graduated or almost graduated college students who can't find a summer job at home, so they end up working at the crappy amusement park nearby. They live with their parents and have lofty dreams of where to go next, travelling to do, and what amazing lives they will have. This was not the next "Garden State", but I think it spoke to me and my peers in a way I haven't seen recently.

"Adventureland" was marketed as a comedy, and while it was funny, it was more heavily a love story, coming-of-age type deal. The protagonist is a dorky, adorable guy who just graduated from Oberlin with a BA in comparative lit and wants to be a journalist. Jesse Eisenberg seems set to be the next Michael Cera (and yeah, I think Cera is awesome enough to have proteges) the way he has perfected the awkward speech and mannerisms that seem familiar and real. As the love interest, Kristin Stewart is pretty good, she plays a bad girl (sorta), which I think suits her better than a straight edge kind of character (like in "Twilight").

Best parts? Ryan Reynolds as the uber-cool douchebag who is really a jerk to everyone in the film, but is just so darn cool that you like him anyway. I mean, he dresses like he could go out to dinner at work as a maintenance man. Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig from SNL were both hilarious as the bizarro owners of the theme park and brought laughs in between the tender moments. AND, It's set in 1987 though, so bizarre outfits abound. The things people wear at the club in one scene would have made anyone proud at Smiley 80's.