In the summer of 1987, a college graduate takes a 'nowhere' job at his local amusement park, only to find it's the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.
Adventureland isn't as clever as Kicking, and not nearly as hilarious as Superbad, but it's still a sweet little memory ache, a Proustian cookie co-flavored with semiotics and Whitesnake.
– Kyle Smith,
New York Post,
3 Apr 2009
rotten:
The youths of Superbad were a little bit younger, a little more likable, their dirty-virgin wit more hilarious [than in Adventureland].
– Amy Biancolli,
Houston Chronicle,
3 Apr 2009
fresh:
Audiences expecting another dumb wallow will be startled, and I hope enlivened, by this movie's core of feeling.
– Peter Rainer,
Christian Science Monitor,
6 Apr 2009
fresh:
The story is semi-autobiographical, but has a gentler touch than his prior work on Superbad, and certainly relies less on slapstick episodes.
– David Denby,
New Yorker,
6 Apr 2009
fresh:
As a sweet-natured character comedy - and a subtle exercise in generic boundary-pushing - this is a real charmer.