Safety Not Guaranteed(Genre:Comedy/ Drama/Romance) A movie that got me thinking !!!

(Pic Courtesy IMDb)

I couldn’t stop thinking about the amazing parallels that were drawn in to an 80 minute movie. This movie has extremely well written dialogues and brilliant character sketching. The plot that starts with female protagonist Darius (Aubrey Christina Plaza), a recluse intern at a magazine publishing who accompanies her boss Jeff (Jake Johnson) and fellow intern Arnau(Karan Soni)  to Ocean View Washington in a mission to cover the story of a man, Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass) who had placed an add in the classifieds inviting a partner to join him on a journey back in time on a time machine of which safety is not guaranteed. What begins as the hilarious quest for a psychopath/ criminal story turns out as a quest for love and trust. Beyond, the comical plot are the overarching questions – can one travel on a time machine?why does one want to go back in time? why do you need a partner to travel back in time?

Focusing on the primary plot,  Darius, wins the trust of Kenneth and trains to be his partner, as it turns out she starts believing in his mission, the more she gets to know him and falls for him. Her rational mind is shut until a change in events and she begins to lose confidence in Kenneth. In the climax, it turns out she is in for a surprise when she discovers that the mission was indeed real and joins Kenneth in a Journey back in time.

Here is when the audience in me is drawing parallels to real life , each one wants to go back in time, to resolve regrets/correct the mistakes made, the time machine in itself is symbolic of a dream, a desire or a whim, and why do we need a partner?  when having a partner actually means having to make compromises and sacrifices. The Male protagonist answers this in the last few lines in the movie “I need someone when I'm doubting myself and I'm insecure and My heart fails me? do I need someone, who when the heat gets hot, has my back- I do!”. Safety is Not Guaranteed when you wade through time and space and nor is it in relationships, but things will sure work if you have a partner who believes in your time machine and has your back J