Safety Not Guaranteed (2012 dir. by Colin Trevorrow)
Dee helped just a tiny bit with this write up.
Let me start this write-up off by saying that Aubrey Plaza is hilarious and super talented and most definitely underutilized in the film/television industry. She is actually the reason why I saw this film in the first place, since April Ludgate is my favorite. I was really surprised at how good the film actually is!
A rom-com, the film is inspired by a joke classified ad that ran in Backwoods Home Magazine in 1997. Aubrey plaza portrays Darius Britt, an intern at Seattle Magazine, tasked with investigating an interesting classified ad that reads as follows:
"Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. P.O. Box 91 Ocean View, WA 99393. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED."
The ad became a cultural phenomenon and attracted a lot of media attention.
Darius is tasked with finding the person responsible for the ad and profiling them for a feature story in the magazine. Accompanying her on her task is intern Jeff Schwensen, portrayed by Jake Johnson, who is along for the ride with an ulterior motive: to track down a long-lost love interest who lives in the same town as the author of the ad. After the author is found, Darius forms a connection with him that blossoms into a romance. But as the story unravels, some whacky secrets are revealed and some pretty weird sh*t happens.
You gotta watch the film to understand. But I promise the movie is worth the watch!
The film also stars Mark Duplass, Karan Soni, Janice Bergere, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kristen Bell, Jeff Darlin, and William Hall Jr. The film was made on a $750,000 budget and earned $4.4 million at the box office. Critical response to the film was positive, with critics praising the film's charm, the heartfelt story, and the strong performances from Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass. Roger Ebert noted that the film is surprisingly deep and possesses a strong dialogue.
Interestingly enough, the film became notable for being a character-drive Indie film made by a first-time director on a small budget that still managed to make a significant return and garner critical praise. Netflix was interested by this quality, with the film serving as an inspiration for what would come: the role of streaming in high-quality film creation and distribution.
I am really happy that the film has advanced this far in the game with no seemingly vocal supporters, but it's a film that deserved to advance as far as it has. Definitely would recommend!
SAVING: The Florida Project
