Get to Know the Feeling of Liberation and Release

As I slowly recovered this week from what was likely H1N1, I couldn't stand another minute of the Food Network so I hit the local Redbox and rented Adventureland.

I'll be honest, despite the critical acclaim it received earlier this year upon its release, my expectations were significantly tempered by the overexposure of too-cool-for-me Twilight superstar Kristen Stewart. Perhaps it was the fever haze I was in, but the movie resonated with me. It seemed genuine (excepting the caricatures by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) and unforced (excepting the distracting overuse of the Mary Jane), reminding me of similar experiences in my younger days while working with peers at a cultural attraction not entirely unlike the amusement park in the flick. I was never as disaffected as these characters, but I do relate to how they lived to a certain soundtrack - and what a soundtrack it was!

I love when movies use great music well. Adventureland's soundtrack was nearly distracting; not because the music was poorly used, but because the music is so good it nearly dominates the scenes. Fortunately the filmmakers found the right balance. With The Replacements, Velvet Underground, and The Cure the cool factor is amped up, and I found myself smirking to Falco's Rock Me Amadeus, swooning to Crowded House's perfect Don't Dream It's Over, and cringing to Animotion's Obsession.

Unfortunately the official soundtrack (below) is a mere 14 tracks long and hardly representative of the film's music. Thankfully, others have come before me to fill in the rest.

via Amazon.com
via iTunes

Oh, I now understand the appeal of Kristen Stewart a bit better. Her performance seemed effortless and real, and despite her rather moody character she lit up every scene she was in.