Coming-of-age comedy with airs. Jesse Eisenberg for all intents and purposes plays an extension of his pretentious youth in The Squid and the Whale, a virginal egghead (“I read poetry for pleasure sometimes”) obliged to take a minimum-wage summer job at a Pittsburgh amusement park while awaiting admission to the Columbia School of Journalism. He’s still credible in the part if a little less fresh. Martin Starr, in a supporting role as a co-worker and fellow egghead who gives the gift of Gogol after a first date, is no less credible and a little more fresh. And as the protagonist’s idealized dream girl with a dark secret, Kristen Stewart, seen with greater regularity on screen, is a lot less fresh if also still credible. Mixed in with the superior airs are steady doses of toilet humor for the multiplex groundlings, plus a sizable population of cardboard adults. With Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, and Margarita Levieva; written and directed by Greg Mottola. (2009) — Duncan Shepherd
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