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I wasn't sure what to expect from this film, it had all the elements in place with a great director in Greg Mottola who has a keen eye for subtle comedy and excellent story telling of friendship and teenage romance as shown in the excellent Superbad, a superb young cast with Jesse Eisenberg (who was stunning in the squid and the whale) who plays James Brennan and Kristen Stewart (who has grown up a lot from her Panic room role as Jodie fosters daughter and is also the lead actress in mega-smash hit Twilight) who plays Em Lewin.

The film was unsurprisingly amazing, I endured 107 minutes of agony sitting in the smallest personal space of cinema viewing I've ever had but I would gladly go through that pain again to watch Adventureland a second time and where Superbad was a highly enjoyable slapstick crude sex comedy, Adventure is a superb sensitive coming of age story with hints of comedy which hit all the right buttons in the perfect order.

Everything about the film was outstanding, the acting from the majority young cast was superb, the hilarious and consistently funny Bill Hader (Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Kristen Wiig provided the sillier moments of the film and a surprising excellent performance by Ryan Reynolds, who is becoming a very versatile actor, was terrific as love rat rock’n’roll wannabe Mike Connell the cool amusement park engineer who tells stories of his days jamming with Lou reed and being the role model for most all the guys at the park who look up to him as a mentor. The entire cast fitted the film to perfection.

The soundtrack was also excellent and flawlessly matched to the 80’s setting with tunes from Lou Reed, Bowie, Velvet Underground, The Cure and Falco all fitting the films tone and personality.

What I really loved about the film was that every character had a unique personality and it felt that every character existed in this world which was further credit to the actors and the excellent flawless script, it was a believable and exceptionally told story.

Set in the summer of 1987 it’s about an intelligent college graduate James Brennan who has to face reality that when his dad is relocated and takes a huge wage cut, James will have to fund his own way through Grad school himself and the only summer job he is qualified for is working at a fair ground in his home town of Pittsburg, Pensyvania where he meets the girl of his dreams.

When starting work at the fairground which is run by Bobby (Hader) and his wife Paulette (Kristen Wiig) he is introduced to the other employers of Adventureland. Jesse befriends Joel (Martin Starr) a geeky loser who is way cooler than anyone else mainly because he smokes a pipe, He reluctantly reconnects with old best friend Frigo (Matt Bush) who always punches him in the balls, but It’s when Jesse meets Em that things begin to get better and working at Adventureland may not be that bad.

With a supply of weed he brought with him he makes friends quickly and Jesse starts to fit in at Adventureland, he has a few scraps with knife wielding customers who want to win a huge cuddly toy panda on a game that’s impossible to win and is saved by Em which is where they bond starts to grow.

The film flows nicely along showing friendships building and a romance that grows between James and the increasingly confused and screwed up Em, for Em is having an affair with Mike Connell which threatens to break James heart but all he sees is the girl that he always wanted. The chemistry between James and Em is sublime and really works to make you want to root for them to be together and then you watch in anguish as it’s stretched to breaking point due to Em’s personal problems.

At the end of the film each character James has met has their final scene one way or other as James time at Adventureland is over and it’s time for him to move on and say goodbye to his new found friends and you feel sad that you too will probably not see these theme park pals again. The film then reaches a fantastic and satisfying conclusion, nothing to elaborate or over the top but a good smile maker.

Overall, as I said before, It’s a truly outstanding film and one that I’m dying to see again when it’s released this Friday in cinemas.

Go see it, you won’t be disappointed. It’s a perfect comedy film that is smart, well delivered and memorable in so many ways and has added to the must see films that have been released in the last few months with Moon, District 9, 500 days of summer, Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds being my pick and Adventureland definitely one of the best of them.

Check out our Adventureland competition here.