Suppose you saw an ad, like the one to the left, in your local paper. Would you answer it?
Three cynical Seattle magazine employees looking for the story behind the man who placed the ad, discover perhaps the story of the century. The reporters find a man named Kenneth who seems to be a likable, but eccentric supermarket clerk who believes he has solved the problem of time travel. What follows is a smart and heartfelt movie that reveals just how far you can go by believing.
This film is different than most of the other time travel films that you’ve probably seen. Other time travel movies like Peggy Sue Got Married or Somewhere in Time rely on on the time traveler being unconscious. And then there are movies like Back to the Future or The Time Machine that rely on a machine to move the traveller through time and space. Safety Not Guaranteed is not about the time travel technology (no Delorean). It’s about the traveller and why he’s doing what he’s doing (his mission as he calls it) and that’s what makes this movie so good.
The movie has a great cast and Mark Duplass excels as Kenneth. The chemistry between Mr. Duplass and Aubrey Plaza who plays Darius, the magazine’s intern reporter, is quirky and really fun to watch. After a while, you begin to feel like Darius feels; you’re not sure whether Kenneth is just a crazy loon or if he’s actually built a time machine. And at the very end, your heart will tell you the answer to that question long before your brain does. This movie is about believing – and after watching this movie I can honestly say – I believe. Be sure to check out the movie’s website particularly what others would do if they could go back in time. As for me? If I could go back in time, I’d go to December 1964 and tell a dying father in a VA hospital that it will be tough, but his wife and boys are going to be okay and rest assured that his two sons will make him proud. As I said, this movie is about believing and I do believe. Safety Not Guaranteed is streaming on Netflix.