I've wanted to see this movie for awhile and was surprised to find it still playing in my local theater. The quirky premise and the producers ( Little Miss Sunshine being one of my favorite films) swayed me to want to see Safety Not Guaranteed.
I wanted to like this movie more than I did. It was slow. My mind wandered nearly the entire movie. I walked away feeling that there was a good idea that just didn't gel. It has some meaningful moments dealing with lost opportunities and lost youth, but it was hard to feel a connection to the characters or the story.
One trap that it didn't fall into, was being too quirky for it's own good. It keeps it simple and doesn't ever get too crazy. This made me go along with the bits that were outlandish.
A problem that it did have, was unlikeable characters. In particular the reporter played by Jake Johnson. Johnson's character was such a jerk, that it was impossible to feel sympathy towards him. I also didn't care for the spineless intern played by Karan Soni. It wasn't the acting, they were fine, it was the way that the characters were written.
Saving the movie, was the character of Darius played by Aubrey Plaza. Plaza stole the show everytime she was on the screen. It is really her story. I also enjoyed Mark Duplass as Kenneth, the nutty writer of the Time Travel Ad. Kenneth works as a grocery store clerk and is the resident crazy guy. I feel like everyone can relate to having worked with that type of coworker.
I loved that there was a credit for a "Time Travel Consultant".
This movie had it's moments, but was lackluster enough that it's hard to recommend it.