Strong and Moving!

Absolutely the worst movie.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This would be a one-or-two-star disaster, were it not for the presence of John Cusack to elevate it. I've been ruminating on what makes this so bad. The script is only mediocre, not awful, so the thing that really brings the whole film down is the casting. If they had cast actors with more imagination, they would have been able to bring a little more life to this dull material and made the film at least a 5-star average. As it is, this is mediocre at best and certainly not worth watching, unless you're a Cusack completist.

I'm not familiar with Emma Roberts. But I thought she was quite effective here. I totally bought her rendition of a clueless college kid with lots of "feelings."It was a tad depressing to see a depiction of another brainless kid with massive college loan debt and no knowledge of anything under the sun. Why do parents buy into that scam. At least here the parents try to point out the danger of her absurd and spoiled pursuit. But of course they coddled her and bankrolled it for years.The other silly notion that liberal arts grads. carry around is that they were all meant to do something unique and special. Cusack's character has some of the best lines in the movie when he reminds her that not everyone is talented or destined for greatness.Congratulations to the writers for also having the young male lead remind our girl that she was a worthless, lazy employee and an elitist. With the help of these good friends, she manages to learn something.We later learn that the young male lead has his own hobbies and passions which this self-absorbed pixie never bothered to inquire about. But it was refreshing that she was a virgin and that the young man took time to really get to know her.I also appreciate the Syracuse in Winter setting. Like I've said in other reviews, not every movie has to take place in some glamorous mainstream city. There are plenty of human stories taking shape in gray places that no one would otherwise think about if they weren't the setting in a movie.There's not much memorable music here, which is fine, because it was a dialogue and character-driven half-comedy. I don't need Indie mood music for such a film. There are no sexy scenes worth mentioning by the way. Roberts goes without makeup and our old mentor played by Cusack is refreshingly not a "perv."

An easy-to-watch little gem, this. Emma Roberts gives a strong leading performance as an over-confident, incredibly naïve young poet. Evan Peters is as charmingly cool and likable as ever; Armando Riesco plays his role as a human being, not a caricature... John Cusack, naturally, plays John Cusack, but he plays him very very well. Speaking of Cusack's character, I'm delighted that the message that he gives our heroine is not the usual "You can be whoever you want to be" claptrap you tend to find in these films. Because of the central premise - one's adult talent doesn't necessarily lie where our childhood dreams wish it did - Amy's relationship with her parents is real and heartbreaking. You really feel for them more than anybody, despite their short screen time.yetanotherfilmreviewblog.tumblr.com

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.