There’s seemingly so little to this that I almost have difficulty justifying my high rating. It’s basically boy meets girl while working at an aging amusement park (Pittsburgh’s Kennywood was both the real-life inspiration and where filming took place). If you’ve ever had a summer job that, for a time, provided much of the drama and friendships in your life, much of this mildly comic, altogether heartfelt story should seem familiar. About a third of the plot simply revolves around the various personalities surrounding young James (Jesse Eisenberg), who is hoping to head off to graduate school at Columbia in the fall of 1987.
The other two-thirds of the movie is about James’s relationship with Emily (Kristen Stewart), the cool (yet hot) girl who shares his taste for college rock favorites like the Replacements, Lou Reed, and Big Star (even as the park’s sound system blares Falco’s “Rock Me Amadeus” ad nauseum). The romantic overtures include weed, the once-ubiquitous mix tape, and the semi-reluctant confession—he is a virgin. She’s not, but the details remain an undisclosed secret that hangs over their blossoming friendship.
There’s nothing remarkably perceptive or novel about the way writer-director Greg Mottola portrays their connection, but it seems so accurately to convey the palpable crush of James’s desire (less so Em’s, although Stewart’s and the other “hot chick” role are more than simply props for the male characters). With this and The Squid and the Whale, Eisenberg carves a niche as the awkward-but-not-nerdy college boy, in each case a younger version of the director (or so I imagine here).
IMDB link
viewed 4/21/09 at Riverview
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