Review of Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) by Michael N — 16 Mar 2013

Safety Not Guaranteed may not be a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster or an award winning picture, but it certainly guarantees ninety minutes of cuteness, brilliant acting and touching smart story. Small, natural and very down-to-earth, this is a charming adventure and a sort of coming of age story.

A Seattle-based journalist decides to investigate a mysterious advertisement for traveling in time and he hits the road with two interns. Instead of embarking on a sci-fi adventure, the audience faces a rarely smart script about coming of age, returning to the roots and enjoying the simplicity of life. By exploiting the sci-fi elements and the overall curiosity whether Kenneth (Mark Duplass ) will really be traveling in time, director Colin Trevorrow reveals his leading characters' feelings, dreams and fears. He never loses his grip on the human part of his story and lets everyone from the actor quartet to re-invent himself during this "adventure". Thus, Safety No Guaranteed grows into something more than just an indie-comedy, it turns into a wonderful, small human coming-of-age-story of four different people (even Jeff reaches his "coming-of-age", being almost 40).

With cute humor and inventive imagination, the time travel adventure reaches a finale, which would surprise many and would leave more questions open than answered. This is actually the only small negative side of Safety Not Guaranteed is that the overall off-beat pacing and ambiance make it impossible for the movie to build up any tension and that is why the ending comes a bit unexpected and might not satisfied those who have not managed to put themselves in "watching-an-indie-movie" mode.

Safety Not Guaranteed could be defined as the most surprising independent delivery of 2012 and definitely as the best one. With cast and story way beyond the absolutely cuteness level, it compensates for its flaws and provides an excellent off-beat entertainment.