Earlier this month I was invited to an advance screening of Safety Not Guaranteed, a rated R comedy from the products of Little Miss Sunshine. Though the film had a small limited release on June 8th, it will not be in theaters everywhere till August 9th. I hadn’t heard of the film prior, but after watching the trailer, seeing that it was a comedy, and that it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, I figured why not!
Last night my friend LeeAnne and I headed to the theaters for what was going to be a full house screening. Every seat packed! Meeting up with others who were invited to the screening as well made the hour long line to get in not so bad.
Safety Not Guaranteed stars Aubrey Plaza as Darius (Parks and Recreation), Jake Johnson as Jeff (The New Girl) and Mark Duplass as Kenneth (The League). The premise is that Kenneth, a local supermarket clerk, is creating a time machine. He places an ad in the local paper looking for a partner to go on this time travel journey. The ad includes language informing the readers that “This is not a joke. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. Safety not guaranteed.” Intrigued by the ad, Jeff who writes for a local Seattle magazine, along with Darius and another intern, venture out to discover the story behind the ad. Initially playing the part of an interested partner, Darius actually starts to fall for Kenneth due to his passionate nature and their connection of their past. It’s not long before government agents start to close in making you wonder if Kenneth really has built a time machine…
I thought the movie had a lot of heart and soul. To some the relationships may not be believable, but the cast had incredible chemistry with one another. Witty lines and laugh out loud moments were a pleasant surprise. The even bigger surprise? How heartfelt the film is. This I was not expecting, but welcomed as I enjoyed this film.
Not action packed, though a character-driven film, I never found a dull moment. The beautiful Northwest scenery is absolutely breath-taking and is quite a backdrop to this mysterious yet comedic film.
I received complimentary product(s) to facilitate this review from the sponsoring company. This is 100% my own honest opinion. No one has influenced me otherwise and I was in no way compensated financially. This review is solely based on my own experience with this product.
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