Coming-Of-Age Films

09.09.09 | Irv Slifkin | Staff NotesPrint this Post

There’s something about great coming-of-age movies that connect to filmgoers. It could be that movie fans connect with their own lives vicariously through the characters on-screen. There could be a certain wish fulfillment going on, too. If only I had acted on that crush I had on that beautiful girl. Or, if only that guy asked me out. Or why didn’t I follow my friends on that adventurous weekend?

Whatever the situation, the coming-of-age subject has given us some memorable screen moments. Adventureland, a recent coming-of-ager, is in the best tradition of such efforts. The movie is set in 1987 and centers on James Brennan (played by Michael Cera soundalike Jesse Eisenberg), a teenager about to head to the Big Apple and Columbia University at summer’s end. James takes a minimum wage job at a Pittsburgh area amusement park (actually shot at the region’s Kennywood) when his family experiences financial problems. There James meets a crew of eclectic characters, and, of course, gets a lesson in love and romance.

The characters include park managers and Saturday Night Live-ers Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig;  geeky Martin Starr; hot-to-trot gal Margarita Levieva; and the sharp Kristen Stewart, with whom Eisenberg  takes  a liking to, even though she’s involved with the married rock star/handyman played by Ryan Reynolds. Of course, thrown into the mix for good measure are some 1980s tunes by the likes of Falco, The Cure, Whitesnake and Judas Priest.

Complications ensue between all the characters, but they are understated and believable. Adventureland has been a dream project of writer-director Greg Mottola for years, and after his huge hit with 2007’s SuperBad, he had an opportunity to realize his dream. The movie did OK in theaters, but it will likely become a big hit on DVD, where film lovers can also go back to the past, relive the fantasy lives they secretly wished for, and again experience the pangs of growing up.

Watching Adventureland sparked reminiscences about five fine coming-of-age movies of the past. Here are some well worth checking out. We’d also like to know your choices for the best coming-of-age movies ever.

The Graduate (1967): Dustin Hoffman’s Benjamin Braddock stuck out like a sore thumb in a sea of hirsute, pot-smoking rebels of sixties cinema. He was clean-cut, upper middle-class and a college grad, but his romantic travails struck such a chord that moviegoers of all ages flocked to see his predicament with Anne Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson. The problems were never worked out, but the fact that Benjamin took a stand has resounded over the last four decades. Woo woo woo.

Summer of ’42 (1971): Many baby boomers got a kick out of this funny and sensitive WWII-era survey of a group of teenage boys on Nantucket Island as they have their first whiff of manhood. Gary Grimes is the kid who gets to know what love is with war widow Jennifer O’Neal in Robert Mulligan’s fine treatment of Herman Raucher’s autobiographical best-seller. Among the highlights are the much-discussed “condom scene” and Michel Legrand’s lush score.

Breaking Away (1979): A sleeper that cycled away with surprising Oscar nominations, Peter Yates’ adaptation of Steve Tesich’s wonderfully fresh script mixes bikes and humor in its tale of Dave (Dennis Christopher), an Indiana teen whose mundane life with his folks and friends (Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern and Jackie Earle Haley) gets a needed jolt through his obsession with Italian bicycle racing. His fascination leaves parents Paul Dooley and Barbara Barrie scratching their heads and getting sick of those “ini” words, but Dave learns some important life lessons during a big race in which he realizes his dream and sees the ugly side of it as well.

Stand By Me (1986): Rob Reiner’s audience-pleasing treatment of Stephen King’s novella “The Body” was a big hit with its look at the end of innocence experienced by four pals (played by River Phoenix, Will Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell and Corey Feldman) in 1959 when they launch a summertime expedition to turn up the corpse of a missing kid. The dialogue---Who would win in a fight between Superman and Mighty Mouse—is wonderful.

Almost Famous (2000): Most of Cameron Crowe’s work has had at least some elements of coming-of- age films in them, from Fast Times at Ridgemont High to Singles to Say Anything to his most recent film, the underrated Elizabethtown. But this is his most autobiographical effort to date, a look at a young writer’s first experiences as a journalist in the world of 1970s rock-and-roll. Arguably, it’s also the writer-director’s best work, a loving and sometimes troubling peek inside the excesses of the pop music industry. Patrick Fugit makes a memorable debut as the faux-Crowe high schooler who gets lessons on music and life from real-life rock critic Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), fictional rock star Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and groupie Penny Lane (Kate Hudson).