Adventureland is neither as good as the fanboys claim nor as bad as some of the semi-illiterate posters here say. It's just a mediocre coming-of-age movie, which unfortunately seems to think it's smarter than it really is. Just because you mention Melville and Horace does not mean you are an intellectual with something deep to say. It just means you took a couple of lit courses and remembered a couple of things. (Although, in the 21st century, that qualifies you as smarter than 75% of moviegoers.) Clichés abound in Adventureland, from Em showing how wonderfully good-hearted she is by criticizing a girl who won't date a Jew, to every single adult in the movie being a fool, to the nerdy guy who hasn't had sex yet, to a romantic meeting in the rain.... Once again, the fact that this thing is hailed as a good movie shows just how lousy most movies are. Admittedly, it tries to be more than a dumb teen movie, but trying does not equal success.
Review of Adventureland
