Adult World | Film review - John Cusack's droll poet gives Emma Roberts' daffy wanabe lessons in life

Adult World - Emma Roberts

Emma Roberts plays a daffy, deluded 22-year-old with dreams of becoming a famous poet in quirky indie comedy Adult World. Forced by her long-suffering parents to get a job, she winds up working behind the counter of a porn store but devotes most of her energy to stalking John Cusack’s disillusioned bohemian poet, determined to become his protégé. In other hands, she would simply be an irritating dimwit, but Roberts gives her a core of sweetness and likeability. Cusack is fabulously droll as the reluctant mentor, while Armando Riesco delivers a touchingly off-kilter performance as the drag queen who also provides the heroine with lessons in life.

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Certificate 15. Runtime 90 mins. Director Scott Coffey.

Released on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital on Monday 4th August by Signature Entertainment. http://youtube.com/v/ZbBSR1o6li4

Jason Best

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.