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| Courtesy of FilmDistrict |
“Wanted: Someone to go
back in time with me. This is not a joke. You’ll get paid after we get back.
Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. Safety not
guaranteed.”
How would you react if
you saw that ad in the classifieds? Would you laugh it off or would you be
intrigued? The characters in Safety Not Guaranteed, a new indie comedy opening
this weekend, fall into the second category.
The result is a
delightful little movie that put a goofy smile on my face for 90 minutes and
feels like it was made specifically for me. It’s not going to win any Oscars or
make Avengers money, but I had an absolute blast watching it.
Aubrey Plaza (NBC’s Parks and Recreation) stars as Darius, a college grad who’s stuck in an
unpaid internship at a Seattle magazine. It’s a go-nowhere position, so she
jumps at the chance for something bigger: helping a writer named Jeff (Jake
Johnson, from Fox’s The New Girl) find and interview the guy responsible for
the titular ad.
Darius, Jeff and
another intern named Arnau (Karan Soni) eventually discover that the author is Kenneth
(Mark Duplass), a seemingly unhinged grocery store clerk who keeps going on
about calibrations and emergency preparedness drills. In other words, he’s dead
serious about finding a partner for his endeavor. He responds positively to
Darius (what guy wouldn’t?), so she interviews him for the article under the
guise of prepping for the mission. As they spend time together, she starts to see
him in a different light.
In the real world, Kenneth
would be a paranoid schizophrenic or part of an anti-government militia. Or Darius
would end up in his freezer. But thanks to the magic of movies, he’s just a
quirky guy with a broken heart who can help Darius with her own tragic issues. It’s
absolutely ridiculous, but the characters created by screenwriter Derek
Connolly are so gosh darn endearing that it works. Even the cynical Jeff turns
out to be a decent guy who just wants to be happy.
The cast is stocked
with terrific under-the-radar actors who are on the verge of stardom,
particularly Plaza and Johnson. They both possess a dry, sardonic sense of
humor that works perfectly when combined with such a whacked-out premise. Their
deadpan delivery absolutely sells the material.
Duplass skillfully
tackles a role that could’ve been irritating or off-putting if played the wrong
way. He makes Kenneth a good-natured doofus, but there’s still a hint of danger
to his personality that suggests things could get ugly if he gets wind of Darius’
real agenda. Soni is good too, if a bit underused. He ends up feeling like a
third wheel, though that could be what director Colin Trevorrow was going for.
If you’re going to be in
Atlanta soon, carve out some extra time to catch Safety Not Guaranteed. Hopefully
it’ll do well enough to get a wider release. It deserves to be seen by a much
bigger audience and has the potential to be the sleeper hit of the summer.
Safety Not Guaranteed is rated R
for language including sexual references.
Grade: A-
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