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

Some scenes were improvised, for example, when Jeff advises Arnau to raise his collar and wear sunglasses since they make him look like "a pilot that drives jets".

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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

Jeff: So here's what I'm thinking. We're budgeted for two rooms, but if we share a room, we could use that extra money for some other shit.
Darius: For what? Drugs?

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Crazy Credits

John Silveria is credited as a Time Travel Consultant

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.141 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Civilian"
Written by Jenn Wasner
Performed by Wye Oak
Courtesy of Merge Records
By arrangement of Bank Robber Music

User Reviews

Sweet Summer Sleeper

If you like smart dialogue, an imaginative narrative, and well developed character, SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED is your film. The premise is well articulated with believable relationships portrayed by a talented cast. Audrey Plaza's star turn took the dopey outsider and added her own understated charm that illuminated every frame, especially the campfire scene with Mark Duplass. His performance was perhaps the riskiest.....playing a lonely but driven crusader whose character took a little from FISHER KING, a little from HEROS, a little more from BEAUTIFUL MIND and added a touch of STARMAN.

The ending might have seemed contrived without the sincerity of director Colin Trevorrow. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED was certainly the best film I've seen so far this summer especially after my disappointment with Wes Anderson's most recent effort. It was its last night in Tallahasee attended by perhaps only a dozen people.....surprisingly many stag guys who weren't afraid to laugh out loud. I wonder how many of them were time travelers.