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, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni

5 wins & 10 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' Massiah)
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 | interview | time travel | writer | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including some sexual references

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:

Big Beach Films, Duplass Brothers Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The part of Darius was written for Aubrey Plaza, because writer Derek Connolly wanted to work with her. Jake Johnson was likewise director Colin Trevorrow's first choice for the part of Jeff.

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Goofs

When Jeff is giving Arnau the get-lucky pep talk outside the motel room Arnau's collar is down/up/down between shots before Jeff actually turns it up after giving him his sunglasses.

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Quotes

Kenneth: Ever faced certain death?
Darius: If it was so certain, I wouldn't be here. Would I?

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Crazy Credits

John Silveria is credited as a Time Travel Consultant

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Flight (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Brick by Brick"
Written by Matt Helders (as Matthew Helders) and Alex Turner (as Alexander Turner)
Performed by Arctic Monkeys (as The Arctic Monkeys)
Courtesy of Domino Records Company

User Reviews

Sincere and enjoyable feel good movie

When a man puts a classified ad in the newspaper asking for a companion to time travel with him, a magazine writer and two interns go find him to find out his story. Aubrey Plaza plays Darius, one of the interns who at first seems pretty disinterested in the whole situation, ends up being the one who has to pretend like she wants to time travel. She expects to be working with a total nutjob, completely off his rocker, but instead she finds that Kenneth, the man who put the ad in the paper, is actually an incredible insightful, sweet, and softhearted person and that time traveling is more a facade for finding yourself and it's more of a metaphor for fixing old mistakes. It's a surprisingly touching film that has a lot more to offer than one might have expected.

Great dramadies are few and far between these days. They are usually too unfocused, can't find that perfect balance between comedy and drama, and try too hard to be profound when it comes to taking a look at the human condition. Safety Not Guaranteed finds a way past all these things. It has a clear and poignant focus that drives a heartfelt and oddly moving story. It's a great blend of comedy and drama as it tells a great story on a very human level, but also delivers its own pleasant brand of comedy. It's more clever comedy than laugh out loud comedy, but it fits just right for what this movie is trying to accomplish.

Safety Not Guaranteed could have easily been a sham and it could have gone too far overboard on its profundities. Instead, the excellent script keeps itself at bay and manages to tell a story that is more sincere than one would expect and feels more real than a dramady that is trying to be the most realistic of human stories. There's nothing here that will floor you or blow you out of the water, but it truly is a lovely and heartwarming story.

Normally feel good movies aren't my thing, but Safety Not Guaranteed is sincere enough and of a quality that makes it an absolute joy to watch. That being said, I don't know that I'd watch it again, and I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it's great for one viewing and it's an hour and a half well spent. I would certainly recommend it to anyone with a heart.