Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

Director: Colin Trevorrow

A man in a mullet posts a classified ad in which he is looking for someone to go back in time with him. It's a real ad that you've probably seen before (apparently the real one was a joke), and when making a movie about it you can go a few different ways. Colin Trevorrow decides to take a semi-serious stab at the story while still poking some fun at the concept of the ad. The movie has a lot of comedy in it, but ultimately it takes the character of Kenneth, the guy who posted the ad, and the situation fairly seriously. The whole romance aspect and the nostalgia for the past aspect has all been done before and the tone is your basic standard Sundance indie/comedy, but this one earns its emotion by being fairly effective in creating a real romance between two people affected by past sadness.

Aubrey Plaza's familiar apathetic character (she's basically the same as her Parks and Recreation character) takes a turn for the serious in a very good performance in her first ever lead role. Even though she's basically playing the same character she always plays, we see a different side of that character. On the other end is Mark Duplass playing Kenneth, and Duplass puts in one of his better performances playing the character whom the whole movie depended on. Safety Not Guaranteed is an effective film only because both lead actors embody their characters and make the relationship between them completely believable. But there are aspects to the movie besides the relationship between the main characters. There is also Plaza's character's boss, played by Jake Johnson, who figures into the nostalgic theme of wanting for the past through his quest to find a girl he was with in high school. It's not a bad story line, but it is a bit unnecessary and almost seems like filler. If Trevorrow was challenging himself with this project by trying to take a concept and making a serious quality movie out of it, I'd say he mostly succeeded. Yes it could have been better, but it's impressive that it's as good as it is.

Grade: B