Martyn enjoyed his trip to ADVENTURELAND, and wants to visit again and again!

Greg Mottola announced himself as a filmmaker-to-watch with 2007€™s excellent Superbad, channelling the spirits of two well loved American directors: John Hughes and Richard Linklater. With his new film, Adventureland... the old adage goes that €˜imitation is the sincerest form of flattery€™. A harsh criticism for a wonderful film? Not at all. Mottola has crafted a hugely entertaining flick that captures well the ideals and hopes of young people in search of love and meaning€finally siding with optimism and romance just as it threatens to end on a downer. However (and this may be a controversial comment), it suffers slightly from having an obvious romantic trajectory. By this, I mean the love story seems to get in the way of a film driven by fun characters and their everyday shenanigans whilst working at the theme park. The plot seems tacked on to a more free-wheelin€™-Richard Linklater-type of film. By creating such an endearing band of nerds, goofballs, hotties, retards and intellectuals (yes, intellectuals!), Mottola€™s film ambles along nicely until it remembers there is a narrative; a love-triangle between Jesse Eisenberg€™s James, co-worker Em (Kirsten Stewart) who is having secret trysts with the married Connell (Ryan Reynolds, in a non-comedic role), who James confides in about his feelings for Em, who relates it all back to her. The film is rife with laugh-out-loud moments, most involving Bill Hader as Bobby, the theme park manager, or Frigo (Matt Bush) the childhood friend of James, who enjoys punching him in the nuts at every given opportunity. The 1980s setting is misleading, as Adventureland is not interested in cheap nostalgia. The film wears its decade subtly as if it€™s a matter of circumstance and not its reason for being. The soundtrack offers an excellent selection of 1980s and older indie classics. The songs of the Velvet Underground are used to thematic effect, just as Falco€™s pop classic Rock Me Amadeus features as a running joke. Martin Starr as the Gogol-reading Joel and Margarita Leveiva as the seemingly vacuous disco dancing obsessed Lisa P, who turns out to be far from the slut most assume her to be, are the film€™s stand-out performances. However, none of the cast put a foot wrong, managing to reveal hidden layers to their characters that lesser films would dare. And kudos to Ryan Reynolds for playing against type. As the film€™s oldest character (bar the fleeting presence of parental figures and the demented Bill Hader as manager Bobby), he plays a man who everybody thinks is the coolest guy (the legend goes he once jammed with Lou Reed), he turns out to be a sad figure, creepy and disingenuous. After the mega-hit Twilight, Kirsten Stewart proves she€™s more than capable of playing a sullen teen by playing a sullen young adult. As Emily, an NYU graduate who works at the theme park to escape her family life (she€™s the poor little rich girl€a role Molly Ringwald aced her day). Despite some very minor grumbles, Adventureland could possibly be the most charming film of the summer, perhaps, even the year. Its message: €˜€and the geek shall inherit the earth€and grab the hottie€™ is pure American cinema magic. And Mottola proves there€™s plenty of mileage in jokes involving vomit, erections, punches to the groin and drink driving€and making it ever so delightful. Reviewed by Martyn Conterio in London.Adventureland opens in the U.K. on September 11th.