Comfort Films 81: Adventureland (2009)

It's the fourth week of our School's Out for Summer series, and it's time to stop messing around and get a summer job. In this episode, we discuss Adventureland (2009), starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, and the always pitch-perfect Martin Starr as hapless and occasionally hopeless amusement park employees. We talk about our own summer job experiences as unemployable humanities students, writer/director Greg Mottola's excellent script, the film's amazing indie 80s soundtrack, the perils of nerd love, Ryan Reynolds's uncharacteristic villainy, the hilarious Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig as the oddball ringmasters of the Adventureland circus, different methods of coping with depression and ennui, and Brennan's bravery in rejecting cynicism for romantic optimism even when his life is falling apart. We love this sweet, nostalgic, and hopeful movie, so cash in your Skee-ball tickets for this episode of Comfort Films and give us a listen!