In its low-key way,
Adventureland feels heartfelt, something reflected in the relatively realistic (for the most part) way its characters are rendered; also in its favour, it plays the nostalgia card effectively on not one or even two but rather three levels (it's set in 1987 (one), but the soundtrack draws on both late 80s alternative and its 60s and 70s forerunners (two), and it's about a time of life which, playing the averages, will be in the past for most of its viewers, me included (three)). In the end, there's not much to this film, but it's pretty okay.