Safety No Guaranteed is an independent movie by Colin Trevorrow who recently landed the massive job of making the next installment in the Jurassic Park series Jurassic World. But the reason I was drawn to it when it appeared on my recommended queue on Netflix was the involvement of Aubrey Plaza who plays Darius an intern at a Seattle Magazine, who along with Jake Johnsons reporter Jeff and Karan Sonis fellow intern Arnau, investigates an ad in the personal ads looking for a partner to travel back in time.
Who could resist?
Plaza has a unique acting style that has grown during her time on Parks and Recreation which she employs here as she plays a 21 year old who has been stumbling through life seemingly always on the outside looking in. This is a theme that runs throughout the film as each character is struggling to understand there place in the world. Even Johnsons ultra confident and cocksure Jeff is shown to be vulnerable and unsure of himself as his side story develops.
The three go to find the person who placed the add and try and get a story about presumably a nut job who thinks that he can time travel. They find Mark Duplass' Kenneth who at first glance seems to fit the bill and when Jeff's attempt to become Kenneth's partner in time travel fails it's up to Darius to get close to Kenneth and get the story.
Darius and Kennith
What follows is a beautifully paced story of friendship, love, loss and understanding as Darius and Kenneth become friends and open up to each other about their reasons for wanting to go back in time. I really enjoyed the chemistry between the two leads which is largely down to Plaza who's has a natural quality to her acting that perfectly suits the mood of this movie. Scenes between the two as they get to know each other are both funny (hand gun & martial arts training) and moving (the camp fire scene) and their growing relationship goes along hand in hand with the elephant in the room...Can Kenneth actually travel in time?
So if you have an hour and a half to spare and fancy a charming, funny and moving movie then I recommend giving Safety Guaranteed a watch.
Written by
Owen whilst listening to the wonderful Welsh weather outside aka wind & rain!
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