Adventureland.  I had counted on being a worthy addition to the Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall oeuvre, which would have been fine.  But instead, the film is more Dazed and Confused meets Tadpole (with a little Say Anything thrown in) with a deliberate pace, a keen sense of time (late 80s nod to The Replacements on the soundtrack), and a sweet love story taking the place of bro-mances, snappy male rejoinders and broad physical comedy.  It’s a very leisurely picture and an especially affecting performance by Jesse Eisenberg as the college grad consigned to working his local amusement park the summer before grad school.  Downside – Kristin Stewart as the love interest.  This limited actress who made her bones in the Twilight saga is charmless.

A good old fashioned heart-tugging, crowd-pleasing weepy, and Sandra Bullock’s brassy performance is perfect for the material.  The actor who plays “Big Mike” has a devastating mixture of nobility and tenderness and there are some very funny lines (Bullock’s husband – “Who would’ve thought we’d have a black son before we met a Democrat?”).

I was teed up to hate this picture, given how juvenile and overpraised Quentin Tarantino’s last offerings were (the Kill Bills, and the truly execrable double feature, drive-in homage).  Those movies were the toasts of critics yet belied all of his worst qualities – excess, self-regard and juvenilia.

But Tarantino returns to his sweet spot here, with crackling dialogue, edgy and beautifully crafted set pieces, and a brisk pacing, comic but not immature. It’s a clever and exciting popcorn film, anchored by the actor who plays the primary Nazi baddie (Christoph Walz) with such relish, you near root for him.

Great fun, and yet, highly intricate and accomplished.  The shootout scene in the French cafe’ basement is one of the most tense and exciting I’ve ever scene on film.  A worthy Best Picture nominee.