I really enjoyed Safety Not Guaranteed, and it was mostly because Aubrey Plaza is very enjoyable/interesting to watch. My crush on her aside, this movie was very well done, in that it didn't sell out and explain everything going on but gave some tidbits here and there to keep your imagination going. There are laughs throughout, some times where you might feel some tears lingering behind your eyes, and other times where you are confused on what to feel- but that's a good thing. Everything about this movie is interesting and well played by the cast and every one else involved with the film. Definitely recommend anyone in their late teens and older to go check this out.… Expand

The writing is extremely tight in this film. The acting - especially Jake Johnson from The New Girl - is uniformly solid. What starts out as a quirky, snarky story truly ends with substance. It's unexpectedly satisfying.

The message of the movie is uplifting. No matter how weird a person is they are usually better with a companion. The ending of the film was just awkward to me.

Aubrey Plaza has this look about her. She is short with large eyeballs so she has this way of looking up at people and showing them non-verbally that she thinks they are morons and whatever situation she is in at the moment is stupid. If you are a fan of the TV show Parks & Recreation, you have seen this character before in April Ludgate. The filmmakers of Safety Not Guaranteed most likely thought, … Expand

didn't like the acting, didn't like the script (alternatively vague and too on the nose and too unfunny), didn't like the cinematography, didn't like the music. liked mark dupass, SPOILER the design of the time machine, and a few lines. Don't believe the hype on this one. I feel ripped off by how lame the movie was. the story had potential and it went in none of the cool directions i hoped it might during the film.… Expand

While it does have science fiction elements, Safety Not Guaranteed is much more quirky comedy than anything else. It has the warmth, humor and intelligence that make for a good date movie, appealing to both men and women, but without the gushing sentimentality that is typical of mainstream rom-coms. As a guy, this is the kind of date movie I actually like seeing. Full review on my blog.

A reasonably watchable movie and Aubrey Plaza is hard not to like. Ultimately however, the film descends into the sort of hipster drivel that we are seeing more of lately and the final product just seems to lack cohesion. It's one of those movies where after seeing the trailer you don't know how they could possibly make a full film based on what you've seen. I should probably start trusting my instincts when I feel that way about a preview, instead of deciding to watch a film based on the reviews and/or out of curiosity after seeing a head-scratching trailer.… Expand

Safety Not Guaranteed starts off like a film with promise. Remember how you felt when you first watched Little Miss Sunshine? Yeah, it starts off like that. But it doesn't take much longer than twenty or thirty minutes for Aubrey Plaza's one dimensional, too-cool-to-be-here attitude to completely remove the viewer from any dedication to her character. It's all the "you're stupid" blank stares you've come to love from her character in Parks and Rec...only for way longer. The same goes for Jake Johnson, who makes you think he is going to be hilarious for the whole film until you realize he's really just the cliche alcoholic **** writer with a silly story arc of his own in the film that has literally no payoff or relevance to the overall plot. With that being said, Mark Duplass as the paranoid time traveler is just really fantastic. His character distracted me from Plaza and Johnson's super indie, first world problematics and gave me a reason to stay awake for the entire film. He even performs a beautiful song somewhere near the end. But then there's "the end." I've heard other critics give the ending of this movie a lot of praise. To be frank, I don't know why. It has a good ending the same way The Sopranos had a good ending. It just ends. So if you're looking for the heartfelt, dramatic comedy romp with a wild storyline and goosebumps-inducing ending...you're not going to get it. But I suppose if you have an hour and a half to spare, you can start this film up and enjoy Duplass being a stupidly good actor.… Collapse

Made with relatively unknown actors who however bring something really fresh on the silver screen, with relatively low budget leaving a lot of things through out the film in the viewers imagination, an original script that take you on a journey that you haven't been before and a visionary director who manages to pull all this madness together in a very endearing and enjoyable picture. One of the most welcomed surprises of the year.… Expand

A fun premise that gets ground into the dirt by the absolutely leaden acting of the always vacuous Aubrey Plaza and occasionally derailed by a supporting character subplot that goes nowhere and offers nothing to the main storyline. The oh-so hip indie soundtrack got far more thought put into it than the actual movie.

It's a shame as it begins strong/interesting but eventually proves to be a hollow, predictable story that runs down a checklist of emotional buttons to press before reaching the obvious conclusion. Oh well...… Expand

Once in a while you have very little expectations before you start watching a movie and as you watch and the story develops you begin to be more and more interested, you giggle and smile and suddenly you get it, and you must see the conclusion! Safety Not Guaranteed is one of those movies.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a wonderful little quirky film. At no time during the film was I ever bored. Aubrey Plaza (sort of reprising her role from Parks and Recreation) was marvelous and made the film for me. The plot (inspired by a real life ad that appeared in a magazine) unfolds slowly and surprisingly, unlike so many other independent films, actually has an ending!… Expand

This movie is cute. Honestly, there's no other way to say it. It borders on cheesy at times but it's a very cute film that honestly makes you feel happy when it's over. Not the best movie of 2012 but definitely a good, very cute film. Perfect date movie.

Safety Not Guaranted is not overly dramatic or funny, but the light tone and depth of the story make it an enjoyable 80 minutes. The two leads are very likeable and the film is also about something, which is rare in our times.

Safety Not Gauranteed starts out as a humoristic road-trip-esque adventure with the promise of some deep science-fiction but it ends up as some kind of modern romance movie with horrible music and around the 55 minute mark it really starts to drag as the movie slowly works towards tying up loose ends. Then when it finally ends, it ends with such an anti-climax that it seems like the writers just stopped caring and never finished the story. Science-fiction? Time travel? In the very last minute, just before the credits role. Leaving too many questions unanswered and generally undoing the good feeling you get from it in the first 50 or so minutes makes me wish I could go back in time to stop myself from watching this movie. Aubrey Plaza (Darius) looks great and if it wasn't for her good looks, I wouldn't have rated the movie as high as I did. Karan Soni (Darau) plays a very convincing timid intern and should have gotten more screen-time. The rest of the actors were so-so.… Expand

Safety Not Guaranteed is a well acted, quirky and original comedy-drama; aside from a few unnecessary subplots and being little slow at times.

Wow, what a charmer this movie is. Jake Johnson pulls of the Russell Brand trick of making a smarmy, cynical character likable, and Aubrey Plaza is really a revelation. You suspect that her moping around in the first third of this movie would drive you away, but the way she warms up as the story progresses is really irresistible. Oh, and Mark Duplass should be a leading man in every other rom-com from here on out. Supporting roles are also uniformly stellar. I'm going to compare this to Juno because you think it's going to aggravate like nails on a blackboard, but then it completely wins you over. Highly recommended… Expand

This is a low budget movie that would probably bore 95% of the population. That being said, I am not part of that grouping because I loved it. I mainly only watched the movie because I love Aubrey Plaza but I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The acting was absolutely fantastic and the story was incredibly original. The movie was more about life and how we perceive ourselves in it than time travel and I think that's what the writer and director were going for so I think they did a great job. This film reminded me of a quote from the show Boston Legal where the character Alan Shore says, "I think we live our lives so afraid to be seen as weak that we die, perhaps, without ever having been seen at all." If you see the movie I think you'd see why.… Expand

Good acting and good writing. I expected it to be really corny at the end but it was actually very satisfying and enjoyable. I really liked this movie. It's the sleeper hit of the year imo.

This movie strikes a chord on a multitude of levels, with a few direct statements of truth. It doesn't hold your hand in some Hollywood fashion slowly ramping you up to "get it". It simply tells an all too real fairy tale of life, love and hardship. I cannot find a way to discredit this great flick in anyway, whether its campy nature or amateur window dressing shine through. It honestly deserves nothing less than a 10 for it's honesty.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I took this movie by chance without knowing anything about the script or who were the producers - and it was a very good surprise.

The film, a mixture of comedy / drama light covers an intern (a introverted and somewhat strange girl) from a magazine who embarks on an investigation with two more colleagues, about a strange newspaper announcement, from a person who wants a companion to travel in time. This person is the eccentric clerk of a chain of stores, and the girl gets involved with him to conduce the investigation.

The story is well written, with its high moments, and very light - I thought the acting solid, and having a relatively low budget ($ 750.000US) and not using special effects or action scenes, being made the traditional way.

From the initial half hour, you end up trapped by the characters and the unfolding story. The overall mood of the film is light, and discusses aspects of the personality and lives of the characters in a good way.

In short: this filme ends up being another example of an independent movie, which shows that not every good movie needs to have high budget, famous actors and edge effects to ensure quality and fun. My score: 8.0 / 10.0.… Expand

This film is a mildly amusing fanciful romp -- nothing more and nothing less. Keep your expectations low and you should be pleasantly surprised. A fun hour and a half.

I wouldn't understand how anyone could really dislike this movie. Maybe for the fact that Mark Duplass is way older than Aubrey Plaza, but then this movie illustrates that there are no bounds on love. With three people, out to investigate a story about a classified ad in the paper, each finds a separate story that they go out to take part of. Darius goes out to earn the trust of Kenneth to earn a place to go back in time and investigate the story. Jeff goes back to Ocean View to meet up with a lost love. And Arnau doesn't do much until he gets some inspiration on the trip. A very heartfelt kind of story that plays mostly on the acting and great script, "Safety Not Guranteed" is surely a winner and an admiration piece of work in the indie film business.… Expand

“Safety Not Guaranteed” is a fairly quiet and genuine film about taking chances. That life should be taken advantage to its full potential, whether it be with an idea or loved one. There is also an underlying message about regret and how we should cope with it. We could either live with it, forget it or try to fix it.

Writing in the film is fairly strong as it tries to juggle three diffdifferent stories…well more like two and a half into one fully realized experience. The lines of dialogue are genuine and usually pretty funny. However, the film has a layer of heart. It makes you feel for the characters as you learn more and more about them. The main story about a girl who meets a wacky guy is sweet, but the most compelling story of the film is about one of the side characters who tries to rekindle a old romance. That story works in so many ways where we see the pain and joy of the characters and it doesn’t feel tacked on.

Characters are generally pretty great as they are relateable and the actors do a fine job of bringing them to life. Darius, Aubrey Plaza, is awkward at first, but slowly turns into a more lovable character. Her dead pan humor is hilarious and she says most of the best lines. Plus, Aubrey Plaza manages to bring a lot of emotion to the character. Jeff, Jake Johnson, begins as a sex obsessed jerk, but turns into a very sympathizing character. Jake bring the right amount of and and emotional depth to the character. He even becomes helpful and really helps develop another character in the film. Mark Duplass does a good job as the on edge Kenneth. The rest of the cast is fairly good as well.

Overall, “Safety Not Guaranteed” is a really enjoyable film that is not only entertaining, but brisks by. The characters are compelling and offer up more than what they initially promise. However, it doesn’t reach a level of greatness, but it still is one heck of a film. It had me laughing, feeling, and drawn into the story. I give it 4/5, funny, genuine, and filled with great performances and characters.… Expand

I really appreciate the way this film avoids trying to milk drama out the obvious places. Strong acting; comedy from Jake Johnson and depth from Mark Duplass. Just the way I like it, no sensationalism and plenty of understatement.

http://www.sanctuaryreview.com/2012/08/movie-review-safety-not-guaranteed.html#more This summer has had an overwhelming amount of indie romance flicks. Every other week it seems like there is another dramedy staring a who

Insanely likeable as it is funny and charming with wonderful performances by Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, and Aubrey Plaza. However, the tonal shift at the conclusion is jarring and feels inorganic to the rest of the story.

This is a movie about life and how time sucks the life out of you. The 4 main characters are Kenneth (the crazy, socially inept, nice, crazy guy), Darius (the pretty, bitter, sad, antisocial young woman), Jeff (the self centered, egotistical, rude, nostalgic aging man) & Arnau (the nerdy, quiet, awkward, intelligent student).

Kenneth has always been weird. He's never fit in anywhere and he never will. Someone described him as someone who doesn't fit in nicely with her friends. Although Kenneth is painfully aware of how people view him, he pretends that he's a skilled martial arts expert who is capable of traveling back in time. He has created an alternate reality to kill the pain. He survives by remaining delusional.

Darius wasn't always weird. She was a normal, relatively happy kid until tragedy struck. She was never able to get over her loss and never connected with anyone. She thinks that she doesn't know what she wants out of life but deep down she realizes that she doesn't want anything out of life. She's drawn to Kenneth because he's one of the few people she meets who is more broken than her.

Jeff tries to act like a big shot and flaunts his expensive car to compensate for the dread he feels. He's not where he wants to be and is nostalgic. He has become jaded and self destructive and he knows that he will grow old and become a creepy old man and although he seems to embrace this, knowing that he'll be even worse off in the future fills him with dread.

Arnau is very intelligent but he's also paralyzed by his interconnectedness. When he tries to connect to Darius by showering her with compliments it comes off as awkward and creepy. Much like Kenneth, he is painfully aware of his shortcomings and despite his intellectual acumen, he's unable to break out of his shell.

Overall, this is a good movie. Everyone will find their own meaning but I believe it's a simple movie about life. We're born, we stick around for a while and then we die. No one is really happy. We may experience happiness every now and then but we're all generally sad and there's nothing we can do about it. It's human nature.… Expand