Adventureland DVD Not Full of Adventure

Those expecting Superbad things from director Greg Mottola’s follow-up comedy Adventureland may be disappointed. The R-rated drama-comedy, about a young man in the 1980’s who desperately takes a job at a trashy carnival and finds first love, is a well-made and engaging film, but it isn’t nearly as funny as Superbad, nor is it meant to be.

Jessie Eisenberg, Kristin Stewart and Ryan Reynolds star in the film, which, if anything, can be compared to the classic John Hughes films of the ’80’s. While it definitely offers more swearing and at times crude humor, at its heart is, well, heart, and believable nuances that capture youthful love surprisingly well. Adventureland is now out on DVD, but, unfortunately, the DVD doesn’t have much to offer.

Aside from a director’s commentary, the only bonus features are a few deleted scenes and a making-of featurette. The deleted scenes don’t have much to them, but they’re decent enough; there’s one, which has a father complaining that his son has been trapped on a ride for three hours, is pretty funny. The making-of featurette is pretty standard and doesn’t do much to offer insight into the film. Some of the cast interviews are entertaining and we do learn a little bit about the inspiration for the film, but the featurette is primarily promotional in nature, or alternatively designed just to be DVD filler.

Adventureland is a movie that may be worth a purchase, but its DVD features are incredibly lacking. I would just rent the movie.

You can read my original Adventureland movie review now, or you can