Safety Not Guaranteed

In the September/October 1997 issue of Backwoods Home Magazine, a classified wanted ad requested: “Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke,” before concluding with: “Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed.

An intriguing yet erratic effort, Safety Not Guaranteed follows three magazine employees (Aubrey Plaza's Darius, Jake Johnson's Jeff, and Karan Soni's Arnau) as they attempt to find and interview the man (Mark Duplass' Kenneth) behind a classified ad...

Safety Not Guaranteed could have been something special if someone had been able to rouse it. As it stands, this is one of those casual indies that aspires mostly to nonchalance.

Substituting charm, and sometimes quirk, for special effects, the no-budget time-travel caper Safety Not Guaranteed squeaks by on goodwill and guarded expectations. Aubrey Plaza plays a Seattle magazine intern whose interest is piqued by a classified...

Set in beautiful Washington, Safety Not Guaranteed shows us what happens when you throw together a group of people who don't quite fit in, and are okay with that. When reporter Jeff (Jake Johnson) pitches an idea to do a story on a classified ad...

To be clear, Safety Not Guaranteed is not a science fiction movie. This is not about jumping into a time machine and popping into the future or the past. Viewers interested in that can watch Doctor Who. Instead, this is an indie romantic comedy with...

“Safety Not Guaranteed” is a movie that involves time travel, but it’s not science-fiction. Instead it’s a funny/sad piece about a bunch of people whose lives are brought together by the prospect of going into the past and what effect that possibility...

Sardonic like its heroine but, at heart, a sweetie, the fetching new comedy "Safety Not Guaranteed" came through the Sundance Film Festival where it won the screenwriting award. The film's based on a classified ad that ran in Backwoods Home magazine in...

Safety Not Guaranteed is a little comedy that makes the world safe for personal ads. Because of the requests made in personals or Craig’s List posting, it’s easy to wonder if the authors should be looking for therapy instead of lovers or employees.

The last decade hasn't suffered from a shortage of Sundance films about quirky 20somethings falling into unlikely love, but Safety Not Guaranteed is, at least in its sci-fi-tinged premise, a more ambitious variant.

Someone not paying attention to details may dismiss “Safety Not Guaranteed” as a standard indie quirkfest, featuring goofy characters, outrageous situations and the inevitable musical performance on an obscure instrument.

Perhaps it's a deeply rooted sense of optimism or naïveté, but when Safety Not Guaranteed introduces its inciting incident, a want ad from a man seeking a partner with whom to go back in time, I do not instantly wonder if the man who placed said ad is...

"Safety Not Guaranteed" is a funny little movie. It's not really a comedy, though there are certainly some laughs to be had; it would be tough not to find humor in a story about a guy who takes out an ad seeking a partner for time travel...

Initially a film about an incurably bored hipster named Darius (Aubrey Plaza), “Safety Not Guaranteed” segues into something much more refined and thoughtful. Like another indie about an irrepressible and probably deranged schemer, “Bottle Rocket,” it...

SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED is yet another Sundance crowd-pleaser, and as such, recently got picked up by Film District for a theatrical release. Hopefully, a full-blown theatrical release does, in fact happen, as SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED really does feel like...

A classified is placed in a newspaper which reads: “WANTED: Someone 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.”

The safety may not be guaranteed, but I think you're guaranteed to enjoy the movie. It's fun and exciting as much as it is fresh and unpredictable. It's a film that involves time travel without the confusion that comes with it.

Hey, here's a potential new revenue stream for struggling newspapers. We can sell the movie rights to our old want ads.

From Lars and the Real Girl to Harvey, there's a noble tradition in movies of folks who are gently off their rockers — characters who invite the audience to fall in love with their cuddly-cracked ''innocence.'' So it is with Kenneth (Mark Duplass)...

A Seattle magazine writer (Jake M. Johnson) and his two interns (Aubrey Plaza, Karan Soni) investigate a mysterious loner (Mark Duplass) who has placed a want ad seeking a partner in a time-travel experiment...

A low-concept film about time travel mightn't sound like much of a trip, but first-time director Colin Trevorrow offers good-natured fun and real substance in place of shiny surfaces and whizz-bang effects.

Safety IS somewhat guaranteed in Colin Trevorrow’s modestly enjoyable indie, which takes its plot from a real-life magazine ad that became an internet meme in the mid-2000s. The idea of someone looking for a partner to join them on a time travelling...

A quirky magazine intern, Darius (Aubrey Plaza), investigates a personal ad seeking a companion “to go back in time” and bonds with the oddball in question, grocery store employee Kenneth (Mark Duplass) after going “undercover” with two colleagues.

Eight years ago, Sundance premiered Shane Carruth's coolly conceptual time-travel drama Primer; here's the kooky romcom derivative, dotted with Star Wars nods and "wacky" training montages. Parks and Recreation's Aubrey Plaza plays a Seattle magazine...

The past has never seemed so inviting as it does in Colin Trevorrow’s DIY time-travel romance.

An endearingly oddball indie sci-fi.

Finding a grain of original thought isn’t easy in the crush of summer blockbusters, especially if you’re determined to hang your whole plot on the well-worn hook of time-travel. The idea has been spinning around the clock for centuries, and it doesn’t...

COLIN Trevorrow's ingenious tale of a search for lost time, written by Derek Connolly, is a pleasing hybrid - it's a science-fiction relationship movie. Aubrey Plaza plays Darius, a gloomy magazine intern who is given the task of researching a story...

The script for this inventive and deceptively simple comedy is so beautifully balanced that it's difficult not to fall in love with the characters. It also helps that the cast members deliver note-perfect performances.