Welcome to Adventureland, where the worst job imaginable is about to inadvertently turn into the summer that changes everything. Adventureland, a self-professedly â??funtasticâ? Pennsylvania amusement park, appears to be the bane of recent college graduateâ??s James Brennanâ??s existence. He previously had big plans to spend the summer on a life-altering trek through Europe that would initiate him into real adult life. But when his family suffers an economic downturn in the middle of the Reagan 80s, Jamesâ?? only summer trip is straight to a minimum wage job manning a game booth so existentially bankrupt, no one is even allowed to win the giant stuffed panda. Yet, Adventureland isnâ??t quite what it seems on the surface. For behind the cloying cotton candy aroma, the grating disco songs and the near pathological customers, thereâ??s a whole other world of misfit friends, hidden dreams and most incredibly, after-work encounters with the alluringly sharp-tongued arcade girl, Em Lewin. And when James discovers the hard-won courage to go to battle for Em, the result is a savagely funny yet sweetly heart-felt and unexpected encounter. - skip ad - Genres: Comedy and Drama Running Time: 1 hr. 46 min. Release Date: April 3rd, 2009 (wide) MPAA Rating: R for language, drug use and sexual references. Distributor: Miramax Films Cast And Credits Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig Directed by: Greg Mottola Produced by: Bruce Toll, William Horberg, Ted Hope

Seasonal jobs always are loaded with crazy characters, no matter where, no matter when. Here it's Pittsburgh, 1987, at a summer carnival. While packed with atmospheric details and particulars, it's universal teen theme reaches beyond any specific generation or place.

In the ongoing tradition of "American Graffiti" and "Fast Times as Ridgemont High," "Adventureland" will be a high grader at the boxoffice and in rental.

In this new oldie, Jesse Eisenberg stars as James, a brainy Pennsylvania high school grad whose summer of fun in Europe is derailed by family finances. He needs to take a summer job to get some money to study journalism at Columbia. With only high grades and scholastic honors, he's, well, "inexperienced" in the teen job market. For James, that means a bottom-of-the-barrel job at Adventureland, the yearly carny that deposits itself in town.

With a keen affection for his own formative years, filmmaker Greg Mottola has crafted a funny and spunky amusement. He's layered it with all the top teen troubles: bad parents, nutty bosses, weird co-workers, hot-pants vixens and terrible townies.

Yet, under Mottola's even hand, "Adventureland" is no mere freak show or mindless carnival house. Boosted by its romps and romances, it's based on the sincere dreams and frustrations of its teenage characters. It embraces their anxieties, dreams and youthful valor.

As the touchstone character, Eisenberg is perfect as an intelligent and naive grad. Highly impressionable, he is spun around by girls, friends and authority figures. Kristen Stewart is similarly sympathetic as his summer love, a more mature girl who is spun by an "older" twentysomething musician, as well as a disastrous home life.

Most engaging, Mottola has created a motley group of supporting characters -- all credible in the transitional world of summer employments. Martin Starr stands out as an intellectual underachiever, while Bill Hader is memorable as the rah-rah big boss. Margarita Levieva is bubble-gum popping as a teen tease and rides girl.

Technical contributions are perfect signs of the times, including costume designer Melissa Toth's summer-season duds and the savvy slew of '80s tunes spun amid Yo La Tengo's atmospheric score.