Ryan McNeil
Time is a funny thing. With every moment that passes, we find ourselves one step further down a continual path. Every pace alters the walker ever so slightly, and yet irrevocably. What’s more, no steps can ever be truly retraced. But what if they could? Veering right instead of left, and suddenly find different people walking beside us? Would that make things better, or just leave us with a whole different set of regrets?
In SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, a Seattle magazine writer named Jeff (Jake Johnson) pitches a story based on an ad he found in the newspaper of a nearby small town. The ad reads as follows:
Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. Safety not guaranteed
Jeff is greenlit to chase down the story and track down the person who posted it. To help him on his quest, he is assigned two interns: Arnau and Darius (Karan Soni and Aubrey Plaza).
Before long, the investigative trio trace the ad to its source – a man named Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass). At a glance, he doesn’t seem to be the sort who’d know a thing about time travel. Not to profile or anything, but the man is stocking shelves at a grocery store. Unfortunately, he’s paranoid enough not to want to talk to the likes of Jeff.
It’s then that Darius takes a different approach – one that speaks to something inside of Kenneth. He takes her on as his companion, training her and readying her for a trip through time. As Darius continues to learn about Kenneth, and build the magazine story with Jeff, the big question swirls: Is Kenneth crazy, or can he actually do what he claims he can do?
The theme of “time” is front and centre in SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, with roots deeper than the obvious plot point of time travel. What we’re given is a film that wants us to think harder about where we are on the timeline, and what it was that got us here. While obsessing about time can easily lead to losing track of it, it is important to keep one eye on the clock as we live our life.
Both Jeff and Kenneth push to address decisions made in their past. Kenneth might seem crazy to actually want to get in a machine, go back to that point of decision and alter its outcome. In truth though, how less crazy is Jeff’s sly moves of seeking out someone from his past and hoping to make up for lost time? It might seem harmless and plausible enough, but it makes the wild assumption that little has changed in fifteen years. We all think like this for a second or two about things besides lost love, but to actually act on it is just as odd a mindset as claiming one can travel through time. It assumes that no day or event has had enough impact to change our outlook, which is delusional.
It’s interesting seeing Jeff’s reaction to Liz finishing a sentence with “at my age”. It underlines just how little he understands his place on the timeline. He shouldn’t be the smartass with stunted maturity – he should be carving out his place in the world. He should be guiding his interns, not palling around like he’s one of them. Liz knows how much time is left on the clock, and while she never intended shocking Jeff with that detail, it’s better for him in the long run that she did.
Kenneth isn’t above reproach with his method, he’s easily even nuttier than Jeff. Where his story gives us pause is what he wants to use time travel for. He wants to attend a regret – a regret that comes with a hidden truth. I’m sure if you did an informal poll of what people would do if they could time travel, changing an event or a decision would rank high on the list. What Kenneth doesn’t seem to grasp though – what so few of us grasp – is that it isn’t as simple as stopping a person from going to the scene of a crime. Every little change comes with a great ripple effect, and a man dedicated to studying the metaphysics of time travel should know that.
Him not knowing that is sad – him making Darius believe the same is unfair.
Aubrey Plaza comes hardwired with an off-putting attitude. In SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED she’s able to parlay that into a whole range of emotions, primarily when she’s around Kenneth. She brims with support, sympathy, hope, and encouragement…mostly because Darius sees what Kenneth is suggesting as a way to course-correct her own checkered upbringing. What underlines her performance with an unspoken tragedy, is that the whole concept is flawed. To paraphrase the title, happiness is not guaranteed. Neither is righteousness or results. Nothing is guaranteed (including safety) because our existence just doesn’t work that way. There are too many moving parts, too many variables. Something in Darius must know this, but you get the idea that something in what Kenneth says makes her momentarily forget.
SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED is a melancholy novella about both time, regret, and how the two are continually interwoven. It gently reminds us how fleeting every moment is, and how they cannot be retrieved once they disappear. Not only does it gently make us wish that we could change our fate, but for a second it even makes us believe that we should.
Great review, man. Well done. I loved this film and feel it has been somewhat overlooked (or maybe just unseen). It has themes I can definitely respond to at this point in my life.
It’s kinda crazy when a film comes along right at that apropos moment, isn’t it?
I think you nailed it – the film isn’t overlooked so much as it is underexposed. Hard for a movie like this to get a foothold in the shadow of Dark Knights, Avengers, and Spider-Men, right?
Looking forward to getting to see this – the trailer looked good (although a little too ‘indiefied’) but I like the idea of the story.
Welcome to The Matinee Steven!
The trailer actually showed a little bit more of the film than I would have, but the final product is a little more settled than its quirky ad would make you believe. Do give it a look when you have a chance.
Great review for a very cool film, enjoyed everthing about it. Has Aubrey Plaza been in anything this good?