Adult World (2013)

A truly under-rated production. I laugh constantly every time I watch it. I was at the premiere which was held in Syracuse and got to meet most of the cast. Would have been 10 stars but the audio levels are a bit low making some of the dialogue inaudible. Many of the locations where the film took place I have visited including the home of Rat Billings (John Cusack).

Amy Anderson (Emma Roberts) is a college poetry student. Fellow student Josh tries to trick her into a sex tape. Her parents cut her off and she is forced to get a job. The virgin Amy reluctantly takes a job at the sex shop Adult World run by elderly couple Mary Anne and Stan. Alex (Evan Peters) is the manager. Amy is obsessed with writer Rat Billings (John Cusack). Her car is stolen but her insurance is void because the money her parents gave her for insurance has been spent on failed poetry contests. She runs away from home and crashes with transgender Rubia. She gets kicked out and rents a house with friend Candace (Shannon Woodward) near Billings.Emma Roberts is good at the try-hard obsessive-stalker Amy character. The problem is the character has other aspects that doesn't really work. She's supposed to be a clueless virginal innocent. Roberts hasn't been that since as a child star in her TV show. Her character starts by hooking up with Josh at a college party. She's not so clueless that she doesn't know why the video gets sticky. The movie wants her to be wacky funny in some instances and it doesn't always work. Her obsessive stalking of John Cusack is pretty good and filled with fun. This movie is not as funny as it wants to be.

What a stinker this was! Not sure where all the praise for Emma Roberts comes from but she came off as an adolescent teenager in this one rather than a young adult. I lost track of where she was living throughout the movie (actually I stopped caring). Shannon Woodward had a throwaway role that was a complete waste of her talent. John Cusack and Evan Peters were the only thing making this watchable. The scenes with her family made no sense and were merely a plot device. This movie is just tedious and seems to go nowhere. The adult store was hardly explored and could of led to some real fun but instead fell flat. I mean talk about dull customers, that is the best they could come up with? Maybe Shannon Woodward should of played a customer.

This is a small film in scope and effect. Nothing explodes, there is no CGI, there is no gun play. What "Adult World" offers is a story well told by a group of skilled actors. The directors applies a deft (and light) hand by clearly letting the actors play a large part in the development of their characters. Emma Roberts is delightful and is a wonderful counterfoil for a curmudgeonly John Cusack. I have never seen Armando Riesco before, but I thought he was terrific as the drag queen Rubia. Evan Peters isn't given that much to do, but he does it well and Cloris Leachman is, as always, fantastic.The choice of shooting the film in Syracuse, NY during the winter was nothing short of brilliant. The constant overcast and near persistent light snowfall helped reinforce the lead character's sense of ennui.I enjoyed this film more the second time I watched it. Like many people, places and things that possess subtle charms, "Adult World" is easy to under appreciate.