Title: Safety Not Guaranteed
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Released: 2012
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Mark
Duplass, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni, Jenica Bergere, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kristen
Bell, Jeff Garlin, William Hall, Jr.
Plot: Sent out by “Seattle Magazine” Jeff (Johnson) along
with interns Darius (Plaza) and Arnau (Soni) to try and discover more about a
curious newspaper classified ad, looking for someone to travel back in time.
Review: Has Aubrey Plaza got a clause in her contract which
only allows her characters to be involved with only the creepiest or most irritating
characters in he films she appears in. Certainly it would appear to be the case
as I was forced to watch her not only dry hump Christopher Mintz-Plasse but
also shack up with the terminally vapid Scott Porter in “The To Do List” and
now here we get possibly the most unbelievable romance between her character
and the oddball behind the ad in question Kenneth (Duplass). Again the reasons
behind this bizarre plot direction is almost as confusing as the exceptionally
high rating that this film currently holds on Rotten Tomatoes.
Starting off as a mystery piece as the trio try to discover
the truth behind the bizarre classified add, which soon leads to Darius
becoming the inside girl as she meets up with Kenneth and begins his unorthodox
training regime which consists largely of firearm training and running around
in the woods, which seemingly is the sort of training that potential time
travels needs. As his trust in her grows Kenneth also involves Darius in his raids of the
local research facility to steal more equipment for his time machine, as seen
in possibly one of the most questionable heists ever, especially when Kenneth
seems to be carrying it out based on things he’s seen in the movies, while only
made the more surreal when he is caught wheeling out equipment by a stunned
group of employees attending a birthday party down the hall from the storage
room he has just broken into.
While this is happening we also get the second plotline of
Jeff trying to connect with his old girlfriend who lives in the same town as
Kenneth, which it ultimately turns out is his sole reason for taking on the
assignment originally, which ironically turns out to be a lot more interesting
than the main plot line anyway. Needless to say Johnson’s bumbling and
frequently crude approach to this personal project really provide most of the
films highpoints even more so when it
all inevitably blows up in his face and inturn turning his focus to trying to
get the terminally shy Arnau laid.
It is certainly something to question when the subplot of
the film is more interesting than the main plot of the story, which is it has
to be said largely down to how generally creepy the character of Kenneth is.
This isn’t the sort of creepy until you warm up to him, but instead just plain
creepy. It’s hard to say if this is down to Duplass’s performance which largely
feels devoid of any kind of emotion making the sudden romance between him and
Darius only all the more forced, while I can only challenge you not to roll
your eyes at the clumsy seduction scene.
It’s kind of shame that this film fails to be more
enjoyable, especially when the cast seem to really care about the film they are
making with Johnson being the real standout here as he brings to the film the
same energy he brings to his more recognisable role as Nick on “New Girl” and
while here it essentially is him giving us more of the same, it is still an enjoyable
performance and one which distracts from some of the more negative aspects of
the film. Elsewhere Plaza comes off more hit and miss as we wheels out her
trademark permanently moody style which as with “The To Do List” doesn’t
exactly work when you’re trying to build a romantic connection between
characters while at the same time making me wonder if despite her talent that
she wouldn’t be better kept to playing supporting characters rather than taking
on these leading roles?
The ending of the film while some might appreciate the
fantastical direction it takes the film, for me ultimately felt kind of flat
and almost as if director Trevorrow was challenging the audience for ever
doubting Kenneth in the first place. However for this to have work we should
have atleast been given some indication that he could actually pull off his
time travel claims, rather than being lead unquestionably down the path of believing
that he is just a delusional crazy loon.
Despite this being a heavily flawed film it would certainly
seem that someone high up liked it seeing how Trevorrow is currently directing
the forth “Jurassic Park” movie “Jurassic World” after attempts to remake
another time travel classic “Flight of the Navigator” fell through though as of
the time of writing it remains to be seen if he works better under the
restraints of the mainstream system than he does when given the freedom that
the indie scene provides.
Yeah I don't get why this movie gets so much love either. Plaza is alright but she seems to be playing the same character. Why are they doing another Jurassic Park? Why?
ReplyDeleteWhenever I've checked other reviews it usually seems to be all the things I hated that other reviewers liked. Guess like Pot Noodle and the reasons for cancelling "Firefly" and "The Lone Gunmen" somethings just don't make sense
DeleteI guess when it comes to "Jurassic World" we will have to agree to disagree, as honestly I never mind another dino rampage movie, especially If its not another of those crappy CGI DTV efforts.