Review: Adventureland

Oh Adventureland... The cinematic equivalent of a cocktease. Honestly, presuppose that some person you know suffers a traumatic head injury and remembers everything except for what a cocktease entails. First make them watch the trailer for Adventureland. They'll love it presuming they remember teenage-comedic films that have preceded it. I'm thinking Superbad mostly here, maybe Sex Drive. Ok, now you've got them excited for the movie. Rent the DVD (really, really don't buy it) and sit your unfortunately injured friend down in front of the TV. At this point they're going to be pretty confused as to why your explanation has turned into a tangentially vexing movie night. If they voice these concerns, be sure to punch them soundly in the throat. Over the course of the next hour and a half you can safely bask in the dawning realization in their faces as they begin to perceive that the hilarious movie they were promised in the trailer is in fact anything but. No, the truth of the matter is that Adventureland, like any run-of-the-mill skank who promises wonderful sexual adventures but gets psyched out before delivering, is an all-too-ordinary movie about teenage angst.

The movie follows a young man who has just graduated from college and moved home to discover that finding a job after school isn't as easy as it may seem and before long he settles into a summer job at the local amusement park; the aptly named 'Adventureland'. Right from the get go, there's no crazy premise or zany antics that lure you into the story. I think most people, even those still in school or who never went, can relate to the mediocrity life takes on when you have nothing new to look forward to and you hate your job. For me, that's a strike against the film because the last thing I need is to watch a slightly less real version of my own life play out in front of me.

Ok, so maybe the film will pick up once main character James begins his job working at the park. Hmm... Nope. Looks like this job sucks about as much as you'd guess. Oh hey! There's Kristen Stewart. Finally we'll be able to see her play a character who doesn't seem like they're one Lifetime original movie away from jumping into traffic. Wait, aw man, she's doing the same thing she does in every movie. That sucks. Well, she's sorta cute but boy is James smitten. Here comes Ryan Reynolds. He's funny. Bring on the laughs! What the fuck!? He's pretty much playing an average older dude who works with kids. I suppose that's better than his annoying character from Waiting but... I really want to laugh. Wow, this movie is a little too much like anyone's life without any of the fun stuff that would make it enticing as a movie. Oh well, maybe we'll get some chuckles as James tries to get with Kristen Stewart's Em. Wait, she only likes him as a friend. Shit that's too close to home. Wait... She's sleeping with the much older Ryan Reynolds? God that blows.

I'm hoping my point is coming across here. The movie has almost NO comedy in it whatsoever. I don't really know if this is a failing on the part of the script and director, or if it stems from the film being marketed as something it's not. And herein lies the main problem. If Adventureland had been marketed as a drama from word one, I think the fact it's so depressing would not come across as so egregiously offensive. But no. The trailer for this movie would have you believe that you're going to get a laugh a minute comedy about working at a slightly off-center amusement park. Then you go to the theatre and watch a crude reproduction of your aimless early-to-mid twenties as it assaults you with the crappiness that life often slips into. Who exactly needed a reminder of any of this? When all is said and done, Adventureland could be forgiven its sins and accepted as a drama were it not for the fact that it seems to fall prey to the same bait-and-switch it served up in the preview. I am referring here to the casting of Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. These two have really been two of the funniest people to come out of Saturday Night Live in decades, and they're placed into this film to provide the surreal humor. The mistake of course is that juxtaposed with the sheer reality of the rest of the movie, both Wiig and Hader come off as overdone when they let loose some of the otherwise hilarious material they're presented with. It's a shame because in a movie that adhered closer to the outrageous comedy of its teen-angst predecessors, these characters would be infinitely more entertaining. As it stands, they serve simply as a reminder that you came to see a comedy and got served a steamy helping of melodrama.

All of this and more is why Adventureland is the perfect film to teach your selectively retarded friend the meaning of 'cocktease'. The film gets your hopes up with promises of wonderful laughs and then slaps you in the face for your belief in it. If it had just come clean from the beginning about what it truly was, maybe I wouldn't be so sour about my experience. As it stands I wonder if Adventureland ever knew that it was its own worst enemy. Either way, if you're going to see it know what you're getting into.

Review: Public Enemies

This movie had three things working in its favor from word one for me: a) I have an unabashed bias and interest in anything during the depression era, from music to style to atmosphere; b) a really cool trailer that paints the movie as a kinetic heist movie-turned cops-on-our-heels thriller; and c) both Johnny Depp and Christian Bale leading a movie as two sides of a coin of good and evil. That's a lot of positives nesting in my brain walking into a theatre and, as with King Kong by Peter Jackson, I was fully aware it may slightly slant my opinion of the movie.

So how does Public Enemies fair? Middling at best, I would have to somewhat sadly say. This film absolutely does not know what it wants to be, and chiefly because of this it misses almost every impactful beat it may have achieved. From the promotion of the film we are lead to believe that perhaps this is a character piece on John Dillinger (Depp) and the struggles and mental battles he wrestles with as the age of the FBI dawns and organized crime as it stood began to crumble. I recalled the effectiveness of the Brad Pitt movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford more than a few times while watching this film, and it's clear by merits of character study alone that the former outdoes the latter in both acting and clarity of purpose. It would be hard to pin this on Depp alone, though it is tempting. In order for the audience to be drawn in, the chief character be it villain or hero must have a magnetic quality that makes the viewer anticipate screen time with the character. Depp's John Dillinger does not have that at all. Throughout the entire film he plays one beat, and it's hard to tell what the character is supposed to be thinking throughout it all. Besides one scene where he visibly breaks down crying, there are no cues as to his general mindset. As I said, I don't know if Depp can be blamed for this completely. It almost seems to me that he didn't really have all that much to work with in the first place, and the dialogue and emotions he has are based on a very shaky foundation to begin with.

This foundation comes in the form of the first act of the movie which moves so fast that it undermines itself by carrying no weight. The movie touts the early scenes as the "Golden Age" of crime, yet we are treated to essentially one bank robbery that makes it seem that Dillinger and company are untouchable. After that it's pretty much into the just out of harm's way chase of being one step ahead of the authorities. Mixed in with these rapidly contracting options, the film sees fit to shoehorn in a love story for Dillinger. Whether it's meant to be love at first sight, or a commentary on his impulsive attitude the film never clarifies. Instead, a chance meeting, a nice dinner, and some bold words from Depp (over the course of maybe 35 minutes of film) are all we have to go on to assume this man would do anything for this girl. It's a bit much to swallow and it asks a lot of the audience.

As it may or may not be clear, the movie spreads itself thin trying to be a few things. At first, it seems that we're going to get to see the twilight days of John Dillinger's rampage of fun-filled crime as the real world catches up. As I said, the character focused approach is neglected and undernourished. Secondly, the movie seems it may be a historical piece about the end of crime in the Great Depression and how J. Edgar Hoover (an entertaining Billy Cruddup) establishes the FBI as a force to be reckoned with. Again, the movie is too concerned with jumping between moments like this and on Dillinger, and then on the various other characters laced throughout. It may be assumed that perhaps this movie means to make more of the tragic love story. Again, this is only a half realized notion as the movie focuses so little on this facet that whenever the director feels the whim to revisit it, the audience is disinclined to care very deeply. The problem with this film is that it does not know what to be, and to be honest because of this it is hard to decide what it would have worked better as. Personally, I lean towards a character study much like the aforementioned Assassination of Jesse James..., but then in comparison it would feel a lackluster competitor.

To be clear, the movie is entertaining. The final half of the film manages to evoke a sense of fascination at a man who simply will not give up in the face of insurmountable opposition. Of course, this makes the inevitable fate of the character that much more predictable, but you may find yourself unaffected by this and more interested in how exactly it all plays out. The supporting cast does a decent job with what can best be called bit parts. Baby Face Nelson in particular sticks in your mind, but it's hard to accept the character as the actor plays it more as parody of what a gangster was instead of getting to the reality of the person. It comes off very cartoonish.

Finally, it would be a mistake to neglect to mention Christian Bale. In one of my personal favorite performances from the rising actor in recent years, Bale delivers a kind of performance I felt he hasn't in quite some time. It's at once refreshing and, like Dillinger, never given enough time to develop past the initial traits we are fed in the early moments. Because of this very fact, after the credits begin to roll and we are informed that the real life counterpart for Bale's character killed himself a year after the events of the movie, the reaction is more of confusion than sadness. Bale's character is so marginalized that the fact he may have commit suicide comes as a complete shock because the characterization in the movie never once suggests in a meaningful way that he's being greatly affected by his work. It's a shame because one feels that the character may have been much more intriguing in a more focused film.

In the end, see Public Enemies if you're looking for a mildly entertaining diversion from the huge summer blockbusters currently dominating the theatres. Don't expect anything special, and don't expect to be drawn into the drama in the way you might hope for walking into the cinema.