This is going to be one of my hardest reviews to write yet. Why..you may ask. Well, it's because I can not put into words how much I loved Safety Not Guaranteed. I will try anyway for the sake of the reader. It follows Jeff (Jake M Johnson), Darius (Aubrey Plaza) and Arnau (Karan Soni)...a journalist and two interns at a Seattle magazine. When Jeff suggests to the head of the magazine that he write an article on a man who believes he can time travel...the head instantly agrees and there begins his road trip with Darius and Arnau.
The man who can supposedly time travel is Kenneth (Mark Duplass) and the movie does a good job of not telling us whether he's completely out of his mind or a genius up until the end of the film. Director Colin Trevorrow directing his first feature-length film proves that first time directors can be a master of the craft. What Trevorrow does is along the lines of someone like Jonathon Demme...he gets great performances out of his actors. Plaza is beautiful, funny and just quirky enough here while Duplass is likable and unpredictable. Also, Johnson (who plays Nick on the Fox TV show New Girl) is perfect here. His character has many issues but he is also an unbelievably nice guy with very good intentions most of the time. Finally...Soni, who has been in hardly anything at all gives a great performance as a nice guy who just needs to live a little.
The film is in equal parts funny and touching. There is a scene between Jeff and Arnau that actually had me crying. Also....the film has a very nice message about living for today. This is ironic considering that it's a film about people who want to travel back in time but believe me...that message is crystal clear in the film.
My only complaint with the film is that it's too short. At 80 minutes (not including credits)..the film goes by too fast. I wanted to spend another hour or so with these characters and get to know them more.
Safety Not Guaranteed is an excellent film that fans of indie comedies should enjoy. Even beyond that...almost everyone should enjoy this film. Safety may not be guaranteed but what is guaranteed is that this is definitely the best movie I have seen in years.
(5 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for language including some sexual references)
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