Released on DVD Aug. 25th, “Adventureland” is similar to the typical pointless, marijuana laced ‘80s flicks such as “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” or the whacky “Dazed and Confused,” it just came out two decades later. Set in the summer of 1987, the film is full of great music and bad hair.

The rambunctious comedy kicks off with James Brennan, (Jesse Eisenberg) an awkward yet loveable goofball, getting dumped by the girl of his dreams, after only 11 days. Adding more misery to his heartbreak, his parents drop the bomb that his dad (Jack Gilpin) has been demoted and can no longer give him his graduation present or pay for grad school. Instead, James has to get - gulp - a summer job.

A bonafide bookworm, James’ lack of work experience yields him very little job offers. Reluctantly, he takes a job at the local amusement park, Adventureland. He is employed by the hilarious SNL star Bill Hader, whose character Bobby denies James’ request to work the rides. Bobby instead calls James Gamey’ and puts him on the bottom of the totem pole as a games employee.

At this point the rest of the movie is seemingly predictable. James is going to learn life lessons through this experience while trying to win over his immediate love interest, the independent Em (Kristen Stewart). Viewers will be caught off guard however, when about midway through we find out that Em is secretly sleeping with another park employee.

After a connection over a cheap bottle of vodka and a midnight swim in his whitey-tighties, James begins to fall hard for Em, unaware of her current attachment to Mike. The next hour shows their relationship growing before the inevitable moment when Em’s secret is revealed.

“Adventureland” has all the right ingredients, including a dynamite cast, which also includes Judd Apatow movie/TV alum Martin Starr, and adorable story line, but sadly falls short of comedic expectations.

Despite Hader’s sporadic sarcasm and a few comedic hits, such as James being held at knifepoint for a “giant ass panda” on his second day, most the jokes are flops and the attempted humor is a bit hard to swallow. It takes skill to make the overplayed drunken vomit act funny, and in this case director Greg Mottola just fell short. On the up side, Kristen Stewart makes the movie a little more charming and Ryan Reynolds, in a supporting cast role, looks painfully handsome, as always.

Even though some of the comedy fell flat, the movie wasn’t a total bore. Eisenberg pulled off the socially-awkwardness brilliantly, and makes his character easy to fall in love with. If viewers focus solely on the love story of James and Em and discard the added corny extras, then the film is enjoyable.
“Adventureland” is a little bumpy, but worth the ride.