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Back in 1997, Oregon’s Backwoods Home Magazine printed a classified ad that was supposedly purchased by someone who was interested in finding a companion to travel back in time. Actually, the ad was just a little bit of filler, written by an employee with a silly sense of humor—but word got out, and the ad received plenty of media attention before director Colin Trevorrow finally turned the story into an indie comedy called Safety Not Guaranteed.
While throwing out ideas for an upcoming issue of Seattle Magazine, reporter Jeff (Jake Johnson) suggests doing a story on a bizarre classified ad that appeared in a local paper, seeking a time-traveling companion. The assignment will give Jeff the opportunity to return to the seaside town of Ocean View, where he’ll be free to hunt down The One Who Got Away while interns Darius (Aubrey Plaza) and Arnau (Karan Soni) do all the work.
After the interns track down Kenneth (Mark Duplass), the man who placed the ad, Jeff sends Darius to investigate. As she befriends Kenneth and begins his strict regimen of time-travel training, she discovers that he’s just a lonely guy who wants to fix the past. But while Jeff is convinced that Kenneth is just another paranoid crackpot with a wild imagination, Darius isn’t quite so sure.
Underneath the wacky premise and the quirky characters, Safety Not Guaranteed is more than just an indie comedy about some crazy guy who seems to believe that he can travel through time. It’s also a story about coming to grips with past regrets—and living a life that you won’t come to regret down the road. After all, Kenneth isn’t the only character who wants to go back in time. Moody, depressive Darius has her own reasons for wanting to believe that Kenneth can change the past, while Jeff is in town on his own time-traveling mission to reconnect with the one woman he was never able to forget.
Still, despite the somewhat serious underlying message, Safety Not Guaranteed is an entertaining romp, filled with memorable characters. Mumblecore regular Duplass is as lovably awkward as ever in this mostly-scripted role. His Kenneth is geeky but charming, and he’s just so sincere that you can’t help but love him. Sure, he may have a bad ‘80s haircut and an ugly car—and he may very well be totally delusional—but he’s really just a sweet guy who wants to go back and fix the past. Like Darius, you’ll feel strangely drawn to this adorable oddball.
The best thing about Safety Not Guaranteed, though, is that it keeps you guessing. It never shows its hand until the very end, so you’ll just have to wait and see whether Kenneth really has built a time machine. At times, you’ll be convinced that Kenneth is just nuts; at other times, though, you just might believe his crazy stories. And, through it all, you’ll be held in suspense, wondering how it will end.
Safety Not Guaranteed does have a few flaws—some weak performances and some frustrating loose ends. But its lovably comical characters and its suspenseful story make it a charming—and ultimately satisfying—little indie.
