Adventureland

Nostalgia for a time that never was drives writer/director Greg Mottola's ("Superbad") unassuming '80s era coming-of-age romantic comedy. Jesse Eisenberg plays James Brennan, a virginal college graduate who foregoes a summer vacation to Europe because of his parents' financial woes, to work at Pittsburgh's Adventureland amusement park. The only good thing about James' game booth job is the presence of his alluring co-worker Em (Kristen Stewart) with whom James makes his first tentative steps toward developing a romantic relationship. James doesn't know about Em's sexually active bond with the park's roving electrician Ryan Reynolds, that serves as a narrative time bomb. Eisenberg and Stewart make movie magic happen, but the miscasting of Ryan Reynolds as an adulterous playboy puts a severe damper on the film. Like the confused social period of the Reagan era that the story inhabits, "Adventureland" is an awkward comedy that makes you wish it were a lot better.
(Miramax) Rated R. 107 mins. (B-) (Three Stars)