“Adventureland” vs. “State of Play” - Which is Style & Which is Substance?

Agent 5150’s DVD reviews of the week feature a film about corporate & military corruption leaching into the highest levels of our government and a flick about college students working in dead-end summer jobs who like to smoke pot. Guess which one has more to say about life?

That’s right - “Adventureland” is your winner. A John Hughes-style romp with heart and brains to spare, “Adventureland” stars little-known Jesse Eisenberg as a Michael Cera clone (albeit with a bit more wit and good looks than Hollywood’s resident nerd of the moment) who needs to pick up some quick cash in order to move to New York and attend grad school at Columbia University back in 1987 when it was moderately affordable. With a college degree under his belt, he’s actually overqualified for most menial jobs (does that sound familiar in reference to today’s world or what?), so he stumbles into a gig working the midway at Adventureland, a Pittsburgh amusement park that’s run by a likeable but borderline psychotic couple (SNL’s Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig). Love enters the picture (as it always does in a movie like this) when Kristen Stewart appears, and the rest of the film is essentially an endearingly awkward mating dance. All the usual lessons from 80s teen flicks are present…don’t overanalyze the events of your life, don’t pass up the sure thing in love for the pipe dream, etc…but the movie comes off as anything but stale and recycled. 3 wistful Eddies…

On the other hand, “State of Play” is a fairly formulaic paranoid thriller based on the BBC miniseries of the same name. Given it boasts an Oscar-pedigreed cast featuring Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren, and Ben Affleck, one would expect greatness…or at least something new and different. Instead, we get the typical ‘you can’t trust anyone’ spiel. The performances in “State of Play” aren’t really inspired, either; Crowe and Affleck are competent but unremarkable as a reporter and Congressman (respectively) while Mirren is much too abrasive as Crowe’s newspaper editor. Meanwhile, Robin Wright Penn and Rachel McAdams are stuck in two thankless female ‘sidekick’ roles - Wright Penn as the woman who puts a wedge between Crowe & Affleck, McAdams as the novice blogger who plays Gal Friday to Crowe’s Crusoe. I’ll reluctantly give “State of Play” a weak 2 ½ Eddies…

In the end, I guess I would much rather frolic in “Adventureland” than stumble around in “State of Play”…