Reviews of Safety Not Guaranteed 2012
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Part of Dastardly Difficult December: film nr.1
Have you ever completely fallen for a film? For no other reason than that it provided you with a perfect bubble of escapism wrapped in a blanket of charm and warmth?
This is what this film is to me and I hadn't expected it at all.
From the opening monologue I feared the worst. A twentysomething girl rattling existentialist quips at double speed while looking bored with life and the universe. I feared…
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There is a moment in Safety Not Guaranteed where Aubrey Plaza's quirky character asks Mark Duplass' even quirkier character, "Is that a guitar?" while sitting in front of a campfire after a romantic day of mutual quirkiness. Jaw agape, knowing exactly what was about to happen, I had to pause the movie and consider whether everything up to this point had been trying to make some kind of ironic statement about the romcom genre. Sadly, by the end, I realized…
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The perfect example of the indie calling-card movie: Looks great, quirky as hell, totally useless. Aubrey Plaza does what she can, but there's just no weight to any of these "time travel" shenanigans at all, even as metaphor. I really hope digital filmmaking gets cheap enough to where aspiring Hollywood directors can sends movies like this straight to studio executives. It feels like the audience is witnessing a transaction.
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I watch a ton of bad indie comedies so that occasionally I'll stumble upon little gems like Safety Not Guaranteed. I love the philosophy and science behind time travel. I also love what the ability to time travel tends to reveal about characters, as well as how it fundamentally changes their views on life. The human drama in Safety Not Guaranteed is realistic and poignant, with a few flashes of silly humor and tired clichés. However, the negatives are barely…
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A second watch of Safety Not Guaranteed confirmed that I'll love it forever. It's overflowing with delightful characters, genuine emotion, cuteness, and optimism. It's really refreshing to see a film perfectly balance sarcasm and sincerity.
My first review pretty much covered how I feel about it, but I should reiterate some points:
Mark Duplass. Even as a crazy person he still manages to be the most charming and lovable thing ever.
Jake Johnson. The movie could've just been him yelling at dumb shit for an hour and a half and I think I would've loved it more than I already do.
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A slight car chase, but more of a sneaky car following scenario scene;
Jeff: "This is fucking intense!"
Darius: "We're going 15 mph."This scene was hysterical. I don't even know why! But, we have Darius (Aubrey Plaza) a young intern whom decides to do a follow up for an article with staff writer Jeff (Jake Johnson) and Arnau (Karan Soni) on an ad they found saying a person, Kenneth (Mark Duplass) is seeking a person to join him to…
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Part of the No Rewatch November 2012 Project.
"You wouldn't want to time travel? You don't want to see the dragons fight the elves?"
"No. That wasn't a time."
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Being a bit of a weirdo myself, I enjoy a movie that relishes in it's own quirkiness. There's no question that this movie is the same kind of hipster bait that you see in movies like Zombieland, but that's hardly a fault. The whole thing was a basket full of…
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If Wes Anderson finally made another original film without constantly shoving his style down your throat, it would be something like Safety Not Guranteed.
What is Safety Not Guranteed you may ask?
It's a very interesting and original time travel film NOT about time travel but more about why one would want to travel in time and why they probably shouldn't. Go into this expecting a time travel movie, you'll either be disappointed or you'll find a surprising indie with a heart that resonates without the dozens of cliches indie flicks suffer from.
I felt the latter.
It's touching, sweet, witty, and in many places, wonderful.
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Wow, what a great blend of comedy, romance and sci-fi all in one film! I was really impressed by how Safety Not Guaranteed manages to be consistently funny throughout a good portion of the movie (I laughed out loud several times), showing the eccentric relationship between a young intern of a magazine company (Portrayed by Aubrey Plaza) and the man who plans to go back in time (Mark Duplass who is not only a talented director, but also proves to…
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Why would you go back in time? To get rich? For fun? Because you want a second chance? Because you dream of fixing a mistake? Because you’re unhappy with who you grew up to be?
Good time travel movies are not about time travel, just like good westerns are not about guns and horses, and good heist films don’t focus exclusively on the money or the mechanics of breaking in. Safety not guaranteed is ostensibly a time-travel comedy, but in…
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Quirkiness.
Oh how I loathe thee.
Wes Anderson does it well.
Sometimes.
Usually Wes Anderson's quirk is supplement to a great story with great characters and genuine humor. The quirkiness here had the same effect that I imagine radiation sickness would have on a man. Toxic feeling. My life force being sapped with each passing second.
Safety Not Guaranteed was on my radar for a while and I thought it showed great promise from the trailers and reviews I read.…
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Every 30 mins or so, I found myself liking this flick more and more. It grows on you. Even the characters you don't like initially, they grow on you. The story becomes more and more endearing as it is fleshed out. The silliness is increasingly stripped away as the film progresses and by the end, you are left with a clever and touching display if anti-cynicism in a deeply cynical world. Plus, Duplass and Plaza are terrific together. Even with all the late hype this is getting, it is grossly under-rated.