AdventurelandMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 76 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    For nostalgia junkies, it's one from the heart. Read full review

  • 90
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    Thanks to an exceptionally deft touch, Mottola manages to capture the absurdity and anguish of young adulthood, while never sacrificing meaning on the altar of crude humor. Read full review

  • 80
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    With a keen affection for his own formative years, filmmaker Greg Mottola has crafted a funny and spunky amusement Read full review

  • 80
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    Somehow the story of a young man's coming of age never gets old, at least when it is told with the kind of sweetness and intelligence Adventureland displays. Read full review

  • 80
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Greg Mottola has taken that most overdone of contemporary genres, the coming-of-age story, and made it engaging, bittersweet and even fun. Read full review

  • 75
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    What surprised me was how much I admired Kristen Stewart, who in "Twilight," was playing below her grade level. Here is an actress ready to do important things. Together, and with the others, they make Adventureland more real and more touching than it may sound. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    This film makes you wonder why aren't there more young love movies? Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    A rather ordinary account of youthful summer misadventures that goes down easily thanks to a sparky cast, more than 40 pop tunes that anchor the action in the late '80s and characters who get high both on and off their jobs at a tacky amusement park. Read full review

  • 63
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Adventureland throws a lot at us, but not enough of it sticks. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Mottola, who wrote and directed 1996's "The Daytrippers," crafts smart, witty dialogue. But the movie suffers in tone. While much of the story feels like a brainier John Hughes comedy, it veers into more dramatic terrain and loses focus. Read full review

View more reviews for Adventureland on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Fairly thoughtful romcom masquerades as a raunchy indie.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this is a review of the R-rated comedy that came out in theaters and not the unrated version available on DVD. From the director of Superbad, which stars Twilight's Kristen Stewart, this will definitely appeal to teens. It's not quite as raunchy as Superbad, but there's still plenty of swearing and drug use (mostly pot). You can also expect some drinking, smoking, and sex (more along the lines of heavy makeout sessions than outright nudity). Characters talk about virginity frequently and sometimes mock those who are still virgins.
  • Families can talk about the movie's messages about sex and relationships. How do the characters' attitudes about sex compare to those of other "hard-R" teen comedies? Do they seem realistic to you? Why or why not? 
  • What do you think of James' decision to remain a virgin until he meets the "right" woman? What does "right" mean? Why is he portrayed as being so different from his male peers? 
  • Families can also discuss the characters' drinking and drug use. What are the consequences in real life?
The good stuff
  • message true1 Positive messages: The movie offers a refreshingly non-condescending take on young relationships.
  • rolemodels true0 Positive role models: Characters lie to each other, sometimes out of self-preservation. An alcoholic lets his child take the fall for having liquor stashed in the car. A married man cheats with a young woman who's in love with someone else, though she doesn't confess her liaison to the guy. Workers constantly gossip, and James' childhood friend needles him to the point of bullying.
What to watch for
  • violence false2 Violence: Some yelling, arguing, and threats of physical harm. One guy flashes a knife; another tries to beat up a park worker, though his boss scares the guy off with a baseball bat.
  • sex false3 Sex: Heavy makeout sessions during which couples begin to undress down to their underwear, though viewers don't see them naked. Virgins are made fun of; some appear to flaunt their sexuality even as they discuss their need to wait. A couple goes swimming in their skivvies. One character appears physically aroused.
  • language false4 Language: Very frequent use of everything from "bitch" and "p---y" to "s--t" and "f--k," including "ass," "hell," "screw," "oh my God," and "goddamn."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false4 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Lots of pot-smoking among college-aged characters; they also make brownies laced with weed, then act goofy after eating them. Also, lots of drinking -- both beer and hard liquor.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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