James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) may have scored 770 out of 800 on the math portion of his SATs, but he's not really qualified for much of a summer job -- until he walks into the manager's office at Adventureland.

With nary a question thrown his way, he's hired, not for a gig running the amusement park rides, which is at the top of the carny caste system, but manning the games.

He will be forced to call a pretend horse race, make sure no one ever wins the oversize plush pandas and learn about life and love in a way his canceled European vacation never would have allowed.

"Adventureland," a comedy set in 1987 Pittsburgh and shot primarily at Kennywood in fall 2007, arrives in theaters today. The lag time may have been beneficial since recent college grad James finds himself in financial straits and back home with his parents in the suburbs.

As a fellow college grad says, "Summer in Pittsburgh. That's [expletive] harsh." Yes, the movie is rated R for language and other reasons.

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'Adventureland'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

• Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Ryan Reynolds
• Rating: R for language, drug use and sexual references
• Web site: adventurelandthefilm.com

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The park sucks away a little of James' soul every day, depending on how many times "Rock Me Amadeus" comes over the loudspeakers, but it also introduces him to fellow employees and kindred spirits Joel (Martin Starr) and Em (Kristen Stewart).

Joel is a downbeat brainiac and Em is a lawyer's daughter still reeling from her mother's death and father's remarriage.

Also populating the park are the married couple (Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) who manage it; a maintenance man (Ryan Reynolds) who reportedly once jammed with Lou Reed; and Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva), the big-haired beauty everyone drools over.

Director-writer Greg Mottola is a veteran of the amusement park wars, having worked at the real Adventureland in Long Island one summer. He staffed the booth where patrons shot a squirt gun into a clown's mouth.

Here, he includes the usual touchstones of coming-of-age comedies: flirting, drinking, smoking dope, partying when the parents are out of town and gossiping. An annoying character named Frigo likes to punch his male friends in the groin.

If all of that is juvenile and routine, Mottola redeems himself with James. He's a bright and virginal college graduate who broke up with a girl once after reading a Shakespearean sonnet and realizing he didn't love her.

Yes, Mottola is a smart name-dropper. In addition to Shakespeare, he works in Charles Dickens, Herman Melville, Nikolai Gogol and Mister Rogers.

Eisenberg is good, but so are Starr ("Freaks and Geeks," "Knocked Up") and Stewart, best known as Bella in "Twilight" but a talented actress with memorable turns in such movies as "Into the Wild" and "Panic Room."

Mottola demonstrates an obvious affection for his characters. Even a lothario isn't entirely loathsome; nothing excuses his behavior, but he's a more sympathetic or pitiable character than he has a right to be.

The CMU grad-director makes excellent use of a slice of Kennywood, convincing us that the historic landmark is a rundown park in the Reagan years. Given the movie's time frame, setting and perhaps budget, don't go expecting the sort of beauty shots of "Monday Night Football."

"Adventureland" may best be enjoyed by those who lived through the 1980s or anyone who will get a kick out of seeing the 16th Street Bridge or a park patron in a No. 58 Steelers jersey.

It's not the best movie ever filmed here or even the best R-rated comedy in theaters ("I Love You, Man" owns that title), but it's a low-key, nostalgic charmer with a rich soundtrack and three terrific young leads.