This movie is about a train robbery gone horribly wrong when a serial killer starts killing people and cutting off their faces to wear as Halloween masks while he hunts down a group of Girl Scouts who were trapped in a school bus that fell down a well when a mad scientist devises a plan to kill the secret agent who had managed to beat him at every turn in his life. Just kidding.
In fact, this movie is about a young, aspiring poet who is forced to leave the safety of her suburban home with her parents to find gainful employment in the city. She is ill-equipped to deal with the challenges of city life. After trying to get a job in many places with no marketable skills, she winds up taking a job working for Cloris Leachman and her husband at Adult World, a pornography and adult toy store. This is meant to be ironic, as she is a virgin.
Emma Roberts is the naive recent college graduate who is really annoying as a character. She has no fear of the darkness of life, as she has never been exposed to it. When she finally enters that world, she happens to come across the people who are willing to continue to shelter her for no other reason than that they pity her. She does a reasonable job with her role.
Evan peters is the stockboy at Adult World who quickly develops a crush on Emma and tries to mentor her in the world of adult paraphernalia. He's not supposed to have all that much of a role or of a personality. He is the equivalent of what the female role usually is in a buddy movie where the main character is a guy. He exists to be the right person to turn to - the one who fits.
John Cusack plays the aloof yet down-and-out poet that Emma has idolized for years. He takes a liking to her even after her blatantly stalker ways have caused him at least some concern. He nevertheless loosely mentors her in being a poet and in living in a harsh world where your dreams are constantly crushed. I usually like John, and I like him in this role okay.
The dialog and the pretentious way it was written seems to be the worst part of this movie. It seems like it was written by angry poets who think that the world is just stupid if no one wants to buy books of poetry anymore. So, the writer tries to toss good poetry out there with the bad and seems to judge the audience on if they spot the difference. In addition to the faults in the relatability of the characters in the movie, the dialog really hurts the enjoyment of the film most of the time.
Directing was okay
Writing was not great
Dialog was bad
Acting was pretty good
Cinematography was sub-par
1.5/5