Indie Gems: Adult World

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You're not special.

Amy (Emma Roberts) just graduated from college. She believes she's destined to be the next great poet, but the reality is that she's 90k in student loan debt and has no job. Her parents tell her they can't fund her aspiring poetry career, so she gets a job at a sex store to pay the bills while she writes. She also takes up stalking her favorite poet, Rat Billings (Jon Cusack) who tolerates her presence. 

I'm always kind of afraid to watch movies like this. I'm 28. I fall into the "millennial" category. And so many are portrayed as entitled brats who think things would be handed to them as opposed to working hard for it. It bothers me because that bad rap is almost consuming, giving off the impression most people my age are like that when in fact, there's plenty of us just over here working and doing our own thing. It's one of the reasons I couldn't get into a show like Girls. It just rubs me the wrong way.

I'm happy to say that Adult World doesn't give off that grating feeling at all. Sure, Amy is entitled. She's a naive spaz who doesn't think critically about her situation, but the film opens up a really interesting conversation. Is Billings being too harsh on her? Was he a bad guy, or was his honesty with someone like Amy the right thing to do? I don't want to spoil the entire plot on what happens there, but I found myself thinking about the film long after it ended.

Emma Roberts and real life fiance Evan Peters have great chemistry here. And Cusack is always reliably weird. The bleakness of the film's setting in snowy Syracuse, NY is fitting for how Amy sees her life at this moment.

Grade: B-

Memorable Quote: "You're kind of a pain in my ass." - Rubia (Armando Riesco)  

Comments

  1. s.March 4, 2016 at 10:03 AM

    I have the same problem with movies showing people our age to be entitled - A LOT of people are like that but I cannot connect to it. I had never been handed anything in life because of my family connections or money or something so watching Girls is truly like watching a freakshow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 4, 2016 at 1:00 PM

      Same. That's why I could never get into Girls. I couldn't relate to it for the life of me. I can't relate to Amy in this movie either but she isn't nearly as pretentious as the Girls characters feel.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousMarch 4, 2016 at 2:05 PM

    I hate entitled people.

    Because no one is entitled.

    No one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 4, 2016 at 9:48 PM

      Yep. lol. And we millennials are forever stuck with that adjective for some fucked up reason.

      Delete
  3. RuthMarch 7, 2016 at 10:07 PM

    "Jon Cusack is always reliably weird" Ahah I never thought of that but I guess he's rather quirky. I'm not fond of Emma Roberts though, so not sure I'm too inclined to see this one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 8, 2016 at 6:47 AM

      He is though, right? He's rarely a normal guy. lol

      Delete

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