[[WMG: The final scene is just a fantasy of James' while he's on the bus.]]
The odds of him running into someone he knew as the first person he met in New York City of all places is astronomical, obviously. Plus the whole scene has a bit of a dreamlike quality to it, the rain falls in a very [[HollywoodStyle Hollywood romantic]] way and the overall atmosphere is just too perfect. The scene of him on the bus is the last scene of reality in the film.
* James didn't just "run into" Em, he was looking for her. Hence not being surprised to see her and having something of a speech ready. As mentioned elsewhere he could well have found out where she was living ahead of time, from her dad most likely. As for atmosphere, while this may be a low-key, fairly realistic film, a film it remains. Films often have more appropriate atmospheres than real life. And anyway the both of them were still pretty awkward.
[[WMG: James is [[Film/{{Zombieland}} Columbus]]]]
Columbus wasn't his real name, and we never do find out what it is.
* How come he hasn't aged between ''Adventureland''[='s=] 1987 setting and ''Zombieland''[='s=] circa present day of 2009 setting?
** It’s Creator/JesseEisenberg. He’s always looked like that.

[[WMG: This is a sequel to ''Film/{{The Squid and the Whale}}''.]]
Jesse Eisenberg plays a character in both films. ''The Squid and the Whale'' takes place 1986 and ''Adventureland'' takes place 1987.
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