A Superbad Adventureland

Director Greg Mottola’s last hit, Superbad, may have been modeled after John Hughes-era 1980s comedies, but now his Adventureland goes a step further by taking place in 1987. Based on Mottola’s own post-college experience, Jesse Eisenberg stars as a misguided scholar whose summer trip to Europe falls apart forcing him into a dead-end job at a Long Island theme park to make some money before attending Columbia graduate school in the fall. There he meets a host of colorful characters from dysfunctional love interest Kristen Stewart to Gogol-quoting pothead Martin Starr, and the park’s absent-minded owners played by Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig. There among the stuffed animals and corndogs of Adventureland, Eisenberg may not learn as much as he would have backpacking across Europe, but he finds he grows up even more. Rated R. (Courtesy Miramax Films)