So we are not going to talk about how the first half of Woody Allen’s Café Society is an obvious rip off of another period film, Adventureland, which is set in 1987 Pennsylvania and also stars Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart. For the record, I prefer Adventureland. Adventureland is a coming of age film about a young man who thought he was going to summer in Europe then go to an Ivy League grad school in NYC in the fall, but his parents cannot financially float him so he has to get a summer job, but his college experience only renders him employable at a games booth at a local amusement park. He soon sheds his snobby preconceptions, bonds with his fellow employees and learns about life and love while doing nothing much.
Adventureland perfectly captures the bonding that occurs at a dysfunctional work place, which is more the norm than most people care to admit. Adventureland ended up in my queue because of Kristen Wiig, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that her partner in crime, Bill Hader, who plays her husband. The two run the amusement park and only appear briefly. There is one perfect scene where Eisenberg runs into their office for sanctuary and closes the door after a crazed patron chases him. Wiig perfunctorily hands a bat to Hader, which Hader silently takes then opens the door to execute a madman performance and fend off the offending customer.
I am not the biggest fan of Eisenberg or Stewart, but they shine in Adventureland. Adventureland features a great ensemble and gives each actor an opportunity to do more than they usually get to in other films. I have been a Martin Starr fan since Freaks & Geeks, and Starr delivers a show stopping speech with a self-awareness that is heartbreaking. Ryan Reynolds is friendly, but also manipulative and somewhat pathetic while still being his usual funny and hot self.
Adventureland really works because it captures the financial realities of ordinary people who are talented and interesting, but will never get rewarded despite how special they are. Adventureland also features a great subtle moment when Eisenberg’s character basically figures out what is really going on at home before one of his parents does and takes the hit. That moment is when he becomes an adult by saving the other parent.
Adventureland also perfectly depicts cultural appropriation, and what it is like to be a minority at a workplace. Lisa P. dances with Kelly, played by Kimisha Renee Davis, a black woman who does not even have a photo on IMDb, and I do not recall her getting a single line in Adventureland. Lisa P. and Kelly are like twins: they dress and dance the same Literally no one other than Lisa P. seems to talk to Kelly. Every coworker socializes outside of work with Lisa P., and every male coworker has a crush on Lisa P. Kelly isn’t seen as a human being and is not socially rewarded for the doing the same thing that Lisa P. does.
Adventureland sensitively portrays how individuals face different obstacles and important issues without losing the organic joy of communing daily with others at a dead end job. I highly recommend Adventureland, especially if you were a fan of The Daytrippers, which I was, or Superbad.