"Safety Not Guaranteed" Review

Last night I hopped over to Netflix to check out Colin Trevorrow's first feature, Safety Not Guaranteed, a charmer that puts its own spin on sci-fi. It was given a very limited release, and unless you spend your time trolling the internet for movie news, it's likely this film slipped underneath your radar.

I think I had found out about Safety at some point on IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes; trailers, positive critics ratings, etc. But most of all, and even much like the characters themselves, I think I was simply drawn to the mystique of the title Safety Not Guaranteed and, if you've seen it, the minimalistic theatrical poster that goes along with it.

Aside from the Little Miss Sunshine plug, you don't really know if the movie's a sci-fi action adventure or a comedy. Or both. It's that level of mystery that called my attention to this film and prompted me to take a look.

I'm really glad I did because I was very pleasantly surprised. Safety Not Guaranteed has a simple, tender story with loads of heart and is packed with laughs that feel earned as opposed to potty jokes that come cheap.
It tells the story of three Seattle magazine writers (Aubrey Plaza, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni) who hit the road to find the guy responsible for issuing a classified ad seeking a partner for time travel (Mark Duplass). In the process, the trio find love, have misadventures, and learn to believe in the impossible. For fear of giving too many details away, I'll leave it at that.

I will tell you, however, that the ending feels slightly contrived. It's great right up until the last few seconds before the credits. At 86 minutes, Safety is almost too short. I was left with several unanswered questions about the characters that could've been resolved with an extra ten minutes or so. I'm uncertain at this time about the prospect of a sequel, so the true outcome might just be left to the imagination.

Update your Netflix instant queue and make sure you check out Safety Not Guaranteed. It's got a great story, charming performances, lots of laughs, and earns high marks for being a true sci-fi/comedy genre-bender. It'll make you believe in the impossible too.

3.5 OF 4 STARS