Reihan Salam on Adventureland:
I saw it the first time with an old friend, a new friend, and two pre-friends at a beautiful movie theater that serves milk shakes, burgers, and nachos, which is one version of heavenly bliss.
Our shared verdict was positive, though the movie is definitely a little shambolic….I suppose there’s more to say about Adventureland, and about nostalgia for the late Reagan-era, etc., but this post is prompted by the fact that the movie opens with one of my favorite songs of all time, “Bastards of Young” by The Replacements [etc.] …..
I’m constantly struck by how strongly reaction to movies depends on whether you, personally, can identify with the characters. I guess I shouldn’t be, but I am. I saw Adventureland last week, for example, and for only the second or third time in a decade I almost walked out halfway through because I was so thoroughly bored. Did anybody do anything in that movie that was even remotely engaging or compelling or unexpected or anything? It sure didn’t seem like it to me. I didn’t hate it with a passion or anything, it just seemed like a total snoozefest filled with uninteresting, cardboard characters.
But de gustibus and all that. I kinda liked the generally ridiculous Seven Pounds a little bit, for example. I do have one question, though: why did the movie take place in 1987? With a couple of very tiny and unnecessary exceptions, there was really nothing in Adventureland aside from the fashions that placed it in that era. It could have taken place in 2009 just as easily. So why was it made into a period piece?
