For fans of John Hughes, yearning to relive the days of The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and all the awkwardness that went along with it, fear not because Greg Mottola is fitting into that niche nicely.

James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), thought his life was in order. He was graduating college, going to travel Europe, and then return to an Ivy League grad school. When his parents run low on funds and inform James that things aren’t working out as well as originally planned, he is forced to take a job at a rundown amusement park.

James is a virgin and an all around nice guy who has recently had his heartbroken (which I will come back to later), and he has a hard time controlling his feelings towards Em (Kristen Stewart) but it also doesn’t prevent him from giving everyone’s favorite, Lisa P. a try.

Although the park seems like the summer job from hell it isn’t without its charms. The owners are quirky and hell bent on making and conserving money at all cost, they rig games, give away crappy prizes, and refuse to throw out the spoiled corn dogs. His friends are socially awkward and obsessed with Rush, pipe smoking, and fists to the groin. It’s the women who make the summer bearable however and it is the constant pursuit of sex that seemingly makes life worth living.

Unlike Mattola’s earlier work in Superbad, which was quite good, this isn’t a sexual romp fest, but more of a journey of self-realization. For all the sexual overtones, the drugs, extra-marital affairs, and overall perversion, this is truly a story about none of those things. It is about overcoming and becoming. There isn’t a character in the film without a demon and it is all the other things that are simply bandages to hide the wounds they kept within. Overall this one is a winner 3 1/2 out of 4.

On a side note: In the first scene of the film James has his heartbroken by a familiar face. Kelsey Ford (Arlene), originally from Medina, proves to be the distant and heartless ex-girlfriend who provides the spark to the sexual angst that carries James’ desires throughout the film. Although her performance is small it provides a great look at a career that is destined for bigger things.