Greg Mottola, who directed Superbad, last year’s raunchy coming-of-age movie, puts the emphasis on heart over raunch in his semiautobiographical coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama Adventureland.

The title refers to an amusement park outside Pittsburgh where Mottola’s alter ego James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) reluctantly takes a summer job to earn money for grad school and winds up learning about love and fidelity and the wayward ways of the heart in the process. But the title could also just as easily refer to James’s life-altering discoveries.

It’s 1987 and James, still a virgin (aren’t the main characters in all these teenage angst comedies always inexperienced, insecure and a little geeky?), discovers that his father has had a job setback. Translation: James’ plans for a summer in Europe are kaput and he must now earn his own money for grad school. The problem: his college degree in comparative literature and Renaissance studies means “I’m not even qualified for manual labor.”

Adventureland, however, will take anyone who walks in the door. Soon he’s working the park’s games concessions, most of which turn out to be unwinnable. James is warned by his self-serious boss up front that his job will be on the line if anyone manages to win the giant stuffed panda at the ring toss booth. Of course, you know how this is going to play out … sooner than later.

The nice thing about Adventureland, however, is not the derivative parts of the script, but that Mottola has created some offbeat characters for James to collide with in his adventures on the midway wonderland of neon and popcorn. These are things that make the film genuine and appealing with enough funny situations and dialogue to keep it rolling.

It’s not long before James’ attention is captured by the pretty Emily (Kristen Stewart of Twilight) and the feeling seems to be mutual, up to a point. What James doesn’t realize until much later is that Emily is in the midst of an adulterous affair with the park’s handyman, Mike Connell (Ryan Reynolds), who arranges clandestine assignations with her in the rec room of his mother’s house. Much of the film revolves around James’s attempts to get closer to Emily and her attempts to hold him off in what looks like a losing battle on her part. There’s nice give and take between Eisenberg and Stewart that makes the characters seem real.

Other characters fueling the story include Joel (Martin Starr), a park worker who is very laid back, but hides his own romantic frustrations; Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva), the park vamp all the guys are after but who eventually, to James’ surprise, makes a play for him; the zany husband-wife team (Bill Hader) and (Kristen Wiig), who keep the park running, although sometimes it takes threats with a baseball bat to do it.

Complications abound. Eisenberg, who looks like Michael Cera, one of the stars of Superbad, has the same very nervous, awkward delivery that often has him blurting out his words rapid fire. This makes James not only sympathetic, but also very believable in the role of a young man who isn’t sure which card he should play as he’s lured by the showy charms of Lisa P., yet also drawn to the sensitive soul he finds in Emily, even after discovering her secret affair. Emily also is uncertain which way to turn, drawn by the good-looking and flashy Mike, yet feeling that the sensitive James is more akin to her emotional feelings. It’s a tightrope and Stewart manages to make Emily more than just naïve, easy prey.

So what looks at first to be just another cookie-cutter sexual romp pandering to those in their late teens and early 20s turns out in the telling to be much more. Despite the sexual references, profanity and drugs (James inadvertently gets to be known around the park as the go-to guy for marijuana), Adventureland will strike a chord with anyone who has been bounced around by the winds of love.

****Adventureland

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Margarita Levieva.

Rated: R, contains violence, profanity, adult themes, drugs, sexuality.