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Review: Zombieland

Young actors need to make a living too.
By PETER KEOUGH  |  October 5, 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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ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH
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