James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) didn’t see this coming. After all, he’s been accepted to Columbia for the Master’s Journalism program right after he runs off to Europe to partake in the local scenery. When his father is inexplicably transferred to a less lucrative department, the family cash cow dries up, forcing young James to find a summer job to offset the cost of his adventures. What better place to recoup losses than Adventurland? This place isn’t just for amusement-seeking people of all ages, it’s also home to over-educated (c’mon, Russian Lit? Yeb vas .) 20-somethings Hired onto the Games side (the poor bastard wanted Rides), James encounters a cadre of low-aiming co-workers. There’s Joel (Martin Starr), the pipe-smoking writer. Em (short for Emily, played by Twilight’s Kristen Stewart) and Connelly (Ryan Reynolds) the musician/park maintenance guy.

The previews paint James as a lonely desperate McLovin. He’s not. He’s a Romantic. Trained for the not-so-lucrative industry of Comparative Literature, James is merely thrust into an environment completely foreign to him and forced to listen to Falco all day (It’s 1987, which sounds a lot like the inside of my car). Making friends and trying not to lose the “giant ass Pandas” during the many rigged games, he catches the eye of Em, who has enlisted at Adventureland to get herself out of her home. She’s depressed, she has issues and she’s pretty much playing Bella from Twilight again. The two hit it off and their romance is played out to James’ list of “Bummer Songs”: infidelity, trust issues and corndogs rule their pathway to happiness.

The performances are brisk and outstanding. From Jesse Eisenberg’s vulnerability to Kristen Stewart’s wrought sleeve-wearing emotions, all the movie’s players are sublime. Notable shout-outs go to the park managers played by SNLs two funniest cast members, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. These two were blatant scene-stealers and added some much appreciated laughter to this Lou Reed song of a movie (his presence looms large in this story).

One of the most thoughtful films this year, Adventureland is not another Judd Apatow or fake John Hughes (he follows me on Twitter) treatment, Adventureland is the first coming-of-age movie to be without A) a road trip, B) condom mishaps or D) boobs for the sake of boobs. Clever, plausible without boredom, and unique, director Greg Mottola seems to have had his own coming-of-age story through this brilliant film.