Adventureland is not the film you think it is. Certainly it is not the film I thought it was. The set up is as hackneyed as they come - boy/man yet to lose virginity - attractive but troubled love interest, and a varied mix of comedy side-acts and adults who don't understand their offspring - but beyond that it is far more intelligent than the trailers might lead you to believe.
Jesse Heisenberg as the lead is an excellently confused character, naive, but not as naive as you would think, sometimes swayed by peer-pressure, sometimes led by his own morals and intelligence. There are very few 'laugh-out-loud' moments, the comedy depending on a much more subtle angle - often the punchlines are comments said off screen, almost masked by the main dialogue. The eighties feel is captured well, and would not sit uneasily next to films like The Breakfast Club.
Unusually for this genre it is not immediately obvious what will transpire from any situation - which makes it all the more worth a watch. Moving and clever.
