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Review: Zombieland

Young actors need to make a living too.
By PETER KEOUGH  |  September 30, 2009
2.0 2.0 Stars

 

Does it mean anything that Jesse Eisenberg's follow-up to Adventureland is Zombieland and that it also includes a theme park? Perhaps only that young actors need to make a living too.

Eisenberg plays "Columbus" (the characters are all named after their home towns), a nerdy loner whose voice-over narrative identifies him as one of the last survivors of a generic world zombie infestation. Turns out his paranoia and his lack of social skills, along with a shotgun, are keys to surviving the new environment.

Complications arise when Columbus runs into Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a zombie killer with a Twinkie fetish, and hot but treacherous Wichita (Emma Stone) and her little sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). Who knew the end of the world would be a great opportunity to meet chicks? Director Ruben Fleischer spices all this up with splatter effects, black humor, and Bill Murray, but the homilies on "trust" and "family" prove indigestible.

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Comments
Re: Review: Zombieland
The movie’s high point comes when the heroes get to Los Angeles and encounter a Beloved Hollywood Star, playing himself. I beg you, do all you can to avoid knowing the identity of this man beforehand - that includes steering clear of the film’s IMDb page and putting your fingers in your ears and saying “la la la la’’ when friends talk about the movie. The joke, and it’s perfect, is in the rightness of this star in this setting, and how his long-established attitude dovetails so precisely with the film’s.  –Boston Globe


There's also a deliciously inspired cameo that I won't spoil here but will happily reveal in a companion post on Slate's "Brow Beat" blog. Warning to all who click here: Spoilers await!  -Slate.com



Ravenous hordes won't get me to say anything about the cameo player who makes an appearance in the film except this: Bloody great!   -Entertainment Weekly


Director Ruben Fleischer spices all this up with splatter effects, black humor, and Bill Murray, but the homilies on "trust" and "family" prove indigestible.  –Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix

 Dear Peter Keough, Thanks for the spoiler.  You suck.
By BillTerrier on 10/02/2009 at 11:35:03

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    Add a dash of the sad beauty contests and kooky, dysfunctional family of Little Miss Sunshine to a helping of the bogus hipness and overexposed star of Juno and whip it good and you get an idea of why Drew Barrymore's directorial debut falls flat as a sappy soufflé.
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    Does it mean anything that Jesse Eisenberg's follow-up to Adventureland is Zombieland and that it also includes a theme park?
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