Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel.

Director:

Colin Trevorrow

Writer:

Derek Connolly

Stars:

Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson

8 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aubrey Plaza	...	Darius
Lauren Carlos	...	Young Darius
Basil Harris	...	Restaurant Manager
Mary Lynn Rajskub	...	Bridget
Jake Johnson	...	Jeff
Karan Soni	...	Arnau
David Schultz	...	Coworker (as David Leo Schultz)
Jeff Garlin	...	Mr. Britt
Mark Duplass	...	Kenneth
William Hall Jr.	...	Shannon
Alice Hung	...	Shift Manager
Hassan Cristos Messiah	...	Boyfriend in Car (as Hassan 'Cristos' Messiah)
Keli Schurman-Darby	...	Girlfriend in Car
Jenica Bergere	...	Liz
Lynn Shelton	...	Uptight Mom

Storyline

Darius is a young intern at a Seattle-based magazine and jumps at the chance to investigate the author of a classified ad seeking someone to travel back in time with. Along with Jeff, the staff writer, and Arnau, a fellow intern, the three go on a road trip to a coastal town. While Jeff just wants to chase after his high school crush and Arnau wants some kind of life experience, Darius spends her time with Kenneth, a man who believes that he has built a time machine. The closer they become and the more they understand about each other, the less clear it becomes if Kenneth is just crazy or if he actually is going to successfully travel back in time.

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Plot Keywords:

intern | magazine | time machine | classified ad | time travel | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 October 2012 (Australia)

Also Known As:

I asfaleia sas den einai eggyimeni

Filming Locations:

Ocean Shores, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$750,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$97,762 (USA) (8 June 2012)

Gross:

$4,007,792 (USA) (12 October 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

FilmDistrict, Big Beach Films, Duplass Brothers Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is an actual Facebook page for Liz McHollis, Jeff's old girlfriend who he looks up while in Ocean View. Anne Sellery and Jennifer Popochock, who were the hair stylists and makeup artists on the film, are her only two "friends." Her hometown is listed as Ocean Shores (which is a real town) and not Ocean View, which doesn't actually exist.

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Goofs

When Kenneth and Darius are at the camp and Darius asks what kind of musical instrument Kenneth has, he responds that the instrument is a zither. The instrument they are using is a mountain, or Appalachian, dulcimer. Mountain dulcimers do fall into the general zither category, but typically when people refer to zithers they mean instruments that have shorter scale lengths and many more strings, or courses, than mountain dulcimers. Calling a dulcimer a zither is like calling a viola or cello a violin simply because they fall into the general "violin family" category.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Darius: How far back do you want me to go?

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Crazy Credits

John Silveria is credited as a Time Travel Consultant

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Connections

Featured in The 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards (2013)

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Soundtracks

Big Machine
Written by Ryan Miller
Performed by Ryan Miller and Mark Duplass

User Reviews

Magical Little Gem That Makes You Believe

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Grocery clerk Kenneth (Mark Duplass) places an ad in a local paper asking for someone to go with him as he time travels. He says they'll be paid once they return but safety isn't guaranteed as he's only done this once before. A magazine writer (Jake Johnson) hears about the story and takes a long a couple interns, one named Darius (Aubrey Plaza), quickly gets caught up with the time traveler as she applies for the job without him knowing that she's actually on a job. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED is a pretty strange film to classify because it's part comedy and there are certainly some very light moments but the film also has a tremendous heart, which lets the characters actually be characters and this leads to some pretty dramatic moments. I guess the best way to classify this film is just by calling it life because it pretty much has a little bit of everything in it. What I found so good about the picture is simply how cute and charming it actually is. The reporters go into this story expecting to find a crazy man because we all know that time travel can't happen. What works so well with the film is the fact that you makes you believe that these type of things are possible and you really get caught up with all the characters and their situations. By the time the movie is over, and I won't spoil the ending, you're leaving the theater with a smile on your face no matter what your brain might tell you afterwards. Duplass and Plaza are simply perfect together as both of them bring the weirdness and loneliness out of their characters but they also have such a warm and wonderful chemistry that you can't help but fall for both of them. I also thought Johnson was extremely good in his supporting role as is Karan Soni as the other intern. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED is really a magical little gem that is a breath of fresh air if you're wanting to get away from the loud blockbusters of the summer.