Twilight's Kristen Stewart Still Bella in 'Adventureland'

Adventureland with Kristen Stewart (Twilight), billed as a comedy-drama, combines some funny moments with several dark and dreary moments. I have seen few comedy-dramas that are very funny, and unfortunately, Adventureland is no exception. For instance, the story line about a sweet, intelligent young man James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), who has remained a virgin - what's so funny about that? A lot of young men chose not to have sex outside of marriage. Then the Brennan family suffers financial losses, so instead of taking a dream trip to Europe with his friends, James wrecks the family car and has to get a summer job. Again, not a funny situation.

James winds up taking a job at a local theme park run by Bobby (Bill Hader) and his wife. Much of the movie's comedy revolves around Hader's role and a local kid, Frigo (Matt Bush), a former childhood friend of James, who is constantly punching James in the privates. Hader is funny, but whenever they plop him in for comic relief, it is like inserting a cartoon, and Frigo's constant punches to the privates - not so funny and again, rather cartoonish.

Romance at the Adventureland theme park

At Adventureland, James meets fellow games worker Emily "Em" Lewin (Kristen Stewart) after she saves him from getting knifed by an angry customer. Em is having a tawdry affair with a married park repair technician, Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds). Em and James start a tenuous relationship, but after Em gets cold feet, James makes out with the prettiest girl at Adventureland. Again, nothing funny there.

Jesse Eisenberg wins the giant stuffed panda

Jesse Eisenberg is believably sweet and touching as James. He has the same cute Eisenberg look of his sister Hallie which serve him well in this role. If the giant stuffed panda is the best prize at Adventureland, Jesse wins it hands down.

Kristen Stewart is Bella Swan

However, I must admit, I watched Adventureland mainly to see Twilight's Kristen Stewart. She is good as Em, but Em might as well have been Bella Swan - different roles, similar wardrobe, same hair. Where was the 80s look? Kristen Stewart with 80s hair could be fun, and it would be nice to see this talented actress stretch in a role. Kristen's Adventureland character Em is similar to her Twilight character Bella Swan as well - melancholy, drawn to the "bad boy," vulnerable and full of teen angst, although somewhat more assertive than Bella. It is interesting to note that according to Twilightlive.org,Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke visited Stewart for an informal screen test while she was on the set of Adventureland, so she must have also seen Bella in Adventureland.

Adventureland misses the mark

Adventureland misses the mark on so many levels. It could have been a sweet and tender coming-of-age film, or it could have been a cute and funny coming-of-age film. With a slightly better 80s soundtrack, it could have also been a great nostalgia film. Unfortunately, it is none of the above. This movie is neither funny nor very dramatic, and it falls short of being nostalgic. A PC line or two is even forced into the film which would not have been typical conversation in the 1980s. All in all, Adventureland tries to be too much and ends up being too little.

Adventureland releases on DVD and Blu-ray on August 25, 2009 with unrated bonus features.

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