Episode 154. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

On this episode of B&R at the movies podcast, Berry and Robin watch and discus the 2012 film Safety Not Guaranteed. This dark, quirky, adventure comedy is written by Derek Connolly and directed by Colin Trevorrow. The film stars Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, and Karan Soni. This offbeat comedy about a guy who claims he can time travel will make you laugh, smile, and maybe even tear up a bit. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Alright, everybody, welcome back for another episode of BNR at the movies podcast. I'm Barry. And I'm Robin. Right, so this week was my choice of film. Yes. I decided that we are going to watch the 2012 film Safety Not Guaranteed. Okay. Um, so this um I would classify it as uh quirky, offbeat, kind of unusual comedy. Okay, definitely listed as a comedy. So that's so we definitely we definitely know. Okay, okay. Some people have classified this as a dark comedy, but it's not really dark. It's just it's offbeat and weird. So it's like, I don't know. Some people I think people overuse dark comedy sometimes a little too much. Um but uh it's so it's uh uh the premise is that so there well there's three main people in it. Um uh Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplis, I think is how you say his name, and Jake Johnson. Um so I think you'll you'll definitely recognize all three of them. Oh, okay. Because they're they're definitely actors that have been around for for a bit. Uh Mark is probably the one that you may not immediately recognize or may think like maybe he looks a little familiar. Uh the other two definitely. Okay. You'll definitely know. Um, but it's it's was kind of like a small, like little independent kind of film, kind of flew under the radar for a little bit and then kind of has like a little cult following behind it. And so it's like so people kind of kind of gravitate to it. Um people who go in and thinking like, oh, it's gonna be a little quirky, a little weird, have a great time. People who go into it with like very serious, then they're like question everything, and then it's like they're not along for the ride. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

So go in there with a quirky quirky.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Yes, yes, definitely quirky.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Got it.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Um, but there's a lot of stuff that I we can dive into um after we watch it for a lot of stuff that we can we can talk and discuss. Um but um it's um so it's a it's a time travel movie um that I think actually does a pretty good job.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

And you are a little particular on that. You have picked apart a lot of time travel articles. So that that means a lot if you think the one's pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Right. I think this I think this one's pretty good. Um because there's a lot of there's a lot of stuff you find out and then you find out, you know, then obviously as you discover more. But it's um it's one that it definitely um it makes sense for the time travel on it. Um so it's um it it brings logic into it a lot, which I like. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

So I can see you liking that. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Yeah. So it's so it it's really it's really interesting. Um it's um I don't know, it's I don't want to kind of I don't want to give away too much.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

No.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Um so it's uh but yeah, it's and how did you find it? This one, it was um already out on video, been around for a while, kicked around for a bit. A lot of people kind of talked about it. Really? And so then I eventually I eventually picked it up. I probably picked it up pretty cheap at that point, and then it was like I was like, oh, this is pretty cool. It's kind of kind of definitely different. And it's like and that's what for me I I kind of go for. It's like I was like, give me something that's different, give me something that's not a formula that's not been redone a billion times over. Right. Right. So and that's that's what this that's what this one fits into. Okay. So yeah. Um, so yeah, I'm I'm curious to see um how you think about this. Um all right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Continue, quirky, yeah, comment. Sometimes it's not my style.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Um, but you know, I'm I'm I'll come into it with the right frame of mind. And I I always give every all all the films a chance. Well, yeah, and that's always true.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Right. And then we and then we can dissect them afterwards, yeah. Um great music in this one. Oh, there's there's actually a song that was written for this film um that is actually a pop has become a popular song for the time and is actually I I really I've always enjoyed the song, so I think it's it's really good. Interesting. So yeah, so that's definitely something to to watch out for. Um, but yeah, it's like I said, it's a it's a fun, fun little ride of a film.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

And uh yeah, it's uh I was kind of in the mood for something kind of fun. So I'm glad you're you picked this one. There you go. I mean, not and not that I've been into deep heavy stuff, but yeah, you know. Me, I I was thinking maybe I'll watch misery. It's like, uh, you gotta be in the mood for that one. Yeah, that's a little that's a rough ride if you're not in the mood for it. Right. It's excellent. I mean, obviously, it's so good, but yeah, sometimes it's like mm-mm.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Yeah, you you gotta be emotionally set for going on that kind of ride.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

So for this, it was like, okay, let's watch this quirky movie. There you go. Great.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Excellent, excellent choice, then. Okay. All right. Well, we are gonna dive in and watch Safety Not Guaranteed, and then we will come back and talk about it. Okay. All right, we will be back in a little while. All right, everybody, welcome back. We just got done watching Safety Not Guaranteed. And since this was your first time watching it, I'll let you go ahead and take this away.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

And it really wasn't my first time watching it.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

I had a feeling you'd seen it before. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

I did, and I think I remember watching it and not liking it.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Oh I I kind of enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Okay today. But you didn't like it the first time you thought it you watched it?

SPEAKER_01 5:57

No, because I I okay, what is the girl's name? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Uh Aubrey Plaza.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Uh no, don't like don't like it. She's she's got a very unique look to her. Yeah. And then the the guy that's making the time machine, who's that?

SPEAKER_00 6:11

Um that's Mark. Uh I think duplice is how you say his last name.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Don't like him.

unknown 6:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

All right.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

So I remember watching it, going, yeah, I don't like these people. You know, I don't like, yeah. But um, but no, I mean, I I kind of enjoyed it. Did you? I really did. Okay. Um I I think there was a lot of details that I don't remember. So it must have been a long time ago that I've when I s actually tried watching it.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Well, like we said, it's been out for 14 years.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

So it's been it's been out there.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Uh but yeah, no, I I kind of liked it. It's it doesn't go anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

For a time travel movie, it doesn't go anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Uh which which is okay, you know, you know, because you know, there's a lot of movies that have like a big the big point to it or the big you know lesson or something like that. Right. And this does not. This does not have that at all. Nope. It's just it's just, you know, stuff's happening and um, you know, and yeah, yeah. So um as far as like a comedy, uh, I do like this kind of quirky.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Uh where you know, they just kind of they say weird things or they just kind of like it, it's just like what?

SPEAKER_00 7:30

It almost feels like that kind of like in the moment kind of quirky kind of like you know, and it it's just and but um yeah, it uh you know, uh but I mean you get to the end, it's like it didn't go anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Except they time traveled.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Yes, it yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

That's the only thing that happened.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Otherwise, the rest of the storylines didn't go anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

It's a it's it's all the buildup to that moment. That moment happens and the movie's done.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

I guess you know, I guess that is the one thing I do like about it because um, you know, he said, you know, they were all like, you know, you know, we understand this stuff. This guy's crazy, he can't time travel. And he was the only one who actually did anything.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

The rest of them didn't do a whole lot.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Right. Yeah. Yeah, they're all yeah, the rest of them are are almost kind of just like background filler almost.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Yeah, well, you know, and they they talk about stuff and they I think they're doing stuff, but they're really not doing much. And he's uh he's crazy, but he's he's doing something and he actually did something, you know. Right, right. So yeah, that was that was kind of interesting.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

I re I remember a comment um that was made by uh Bob Gale, who was uh executive producer on Back to the Future.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

And he said that uh if time travel is gonna be invented, it this is how it's gonna be done by some crazy guy in in a shed somewhere and is gonna figure out how to do it and stuff. And so I so I like that aspect of this film where it's like, yeah, he's just putting stuff together and figuring figuring stuff out. Um but like you said, like it's um it's it's all it's all just a build and build and build, and then and then the event finally happens, but then it's like there's no, yeah, there's there's no resolution or anything to it's like, yeah, where did they go?

SPEAKER_01 9:28

What happened after that? I don't know. What happened to the other people?

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Don't know. Um yeah, you know, it's so so when we were talking before, talking about like how sometimes I get overly critical on time travel movies that try and do too much and they're trying to do all this stuff. I that's why I like this one where it's you know, he's talking about like he wanted to go back in time to save his girlfriend. And then they research and they're like, oh well, she didn't die, she's alive. And he's like, That's because I went back and saved her. Uh-huh. And it's like, that's exactly that's that's that's it. That's it. And it's like, okay. Yeah. And it's like, okay. And it's like, it's like, okay, it's like what it, you know, what he did with success. See, and that's why I don't there's so many where it's like they try to make it like, oh, they you know, they materialized and other stuff.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

And it's like and a lot of it, well, and usually in time travel, you see them go back in time.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

You see them go back in this one. At the very end.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Well, I mean, they left, but you don't don't see where they went. You know, because usually time travel, you see the person in a different time when this happens and then whatever, and they come back or whatever. Yeah, that is true. So this one isn't showing you that.

SPEAKER_02 10:48

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

So it's kind of like yeah, it's it's it's a little out there. It's a little out there. Uh but I you know, for the time that it was made, it's like this was pretty, you know, uh, you know, kind of brave to make a movie kind of like this. And right, and it's yeah, it's because it's really different. Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

And it's because it's it is quirky and it's off beat and it's you know, it's yeah, it's not a an adventure film. It's not, you know, going back and you know, they're you know, it's not um um timeline and it's not you know the uh the time machine and all those those films, right? Where it's like, oh, you know, they go back in time and they're gonna you know fight the good fight and go on the adventure and all the stuff.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

They go back in time, they change something, they come back and things are different and that sort of thing. Yeah, yeah. None of that. This isn't showing you that at all.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Nope. But it's uh well, and then I like it where she's talking about like, oh, we can go back and like change major events and like alter, you know, alter alter the past, and he's like, we and he's like, no, we can't do that. That's not what we're doing. And it's like it's like, yes, that that that's it. It's like you got it.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Because that is a story in a lot of time travel ones, you know, they go back and change something, then they come back and things are really different because what they did, right? You know, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Yeah, I think of like um like the ser like the mini-series 1122-63, um, which is based off the Stephen King novel of traveling back in time and preventing JFK from being assassinated.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

And from that one, it's it's like, yeah, it's like, okay, you changed that one, that one event, and what are the ripple effects that happened because of that, you know, stuff like that. So yeah, and it's like you said, like they don't this is almost like the first chapter or the first like the first third of like this of a story where it's like you know, the build-up to going back in time, and then the second is like the middle would be like, okay, they go back in time and they screw something up and they gotta fix it, and then the third act is when they they fix everything and everybody's good.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

So this one this this doesn't do that. It's just it's just kind of like okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

That happened, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Right, exactly. And that's so funny. I love it that you have the guys standing there uh you know next to the lake, and they're just like, uh that just happened, didn't it?

SPEAKER_01 13:23

That just like they're gone. They're gone, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

And it's like, uh, okay, now what? You know, it's like, but yeah, there's no there's no uh, you know, the guy who hooked up with the girl from his past doesn't, you know, there's no like, oh, they're gonna start a family together. He's gonna quit the job, he's gonna move up there and all there's none of that.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

None of that. No, no, no, no, no. It's like so yeah, it's uh it it it's interesting choices on this one, that's for sure. Yeah, very interesting.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

I I mean that's that's part of I mean that's for me that's that's the appeal for me, where it's like because it doesn't do any of the the predictable stuff, it doesn't do right the the obvious, you know, and it's like you know, the they set out to make you know this much of the film and this is what they decided that they wanted to do. And that's where they're gonna end it, and that's where they're gonna end it. And I think uh you know, like you're saying, like that's a choice. It's a choice, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

It's and it's yeah, and really, because I think if they'd extended the story somehow, I mean probably, you know, make it shorter, but then extend what happens afterwards, right? Then they would have been getting into some, you know, typical typical time travel stuff. Yeah, yeah. And it can get messy and it's like, well, that's stupid. No, right. That doesn't work and that you know, kind of thing. So no, they kind of just cut that out and just made it this way. Right, right. Yeah. So yeah, it interest it is it's it's kind of interesting. It's yeah, and it's uh it's an easy movie. Absolutely. Easy movie to watch. Really, I mean you're just you're gonna smile, you're gonna think some things are really funny. Uh it's not a like laugh out loud too much for me.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

There's a couple for me, there's a couple moments that are that are really that are really good, get a good job. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

But you know, but it is like and and then basically they're all good characters. They're all basically kind of nice people.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

There's the There's not there's nobody mean, there's nobody mean spirited.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Yeah, there well, there's one initially that you think that he's kind of supposed to be like the jerk, and then he he you know, he kind of turned he I mean he doesn't go through like a big life change, but then you find out like, oh, he's not really that big of a that big of a jerk.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

No, no, it's just like kind of like normal people, really. I mean, you know, they're all a little little weird around the edges, but it aren't most people a little weird around the edges.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

And that's what I kind of like is that they're all kind of quirky and weird in kind of their own way. Uh-huh. And it kind of, you know, that's just they're kind of realistic.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Right. Yeah. A little bit anyway, you know. It's like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Yeah, and no, yeah, nobody's like a crazy over-the-top type of character or anything. But yeah, they're just they're just like basic people. And then that's why I like it because it has that sense of realism of like, yeah, this that's like, okay, if somebody really did put an ad in the paper, you know, like this, it's like, okay, you would probably send a report, you know, sending somebody out to investigate it.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

You know, yeah, it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

Figure it out. And that's exactly and that's why I feel like this is if if this part of if that part of it actually did happen, this is exactly what would happen. It's like, yeah, you know, you have a post office box, okay. You go stake out of the post office and wait until somebody opens that box.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

But yeah. But yeah, I I I mean, I I like it because it it, like I said, that it's I mean, it it in my opinion, it's kind of a romantic comedy where, you know, because there is a romance, there is a romantic element of it.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

And it's like, but it's it's also kind of a buddy, buddy movie because of the two guy, the two guys, you know, they kind of have like their their moment of like uh of kind of building each other, building each other up and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

They're not they're not nobody's means bearded. The one thing I didn't understand, why is it rated R?

SPEAKER_00 17:21

The it said it was rated R for um, it said like sexual references, I think was what it said. Really? And I was just like, There wasn't that much. Uh yeah, and it it's like I feel like they might have been a little harsh on that.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

It's like I think so too. Because I'm I'm really kind of surprised.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

It's rated R. It could have easily got a PG 13. I mean, there was a little bit of language, but not really.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

No, I don't think so. I mean, not that I saw or heard or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

But because it be if there was, it fit the context and it wasn't it wasn't over the top and it didn't feel like it was like smacking around.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

I don't know. That that's that's just me. Because I know when it when it came on, I'm going, wait it R. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

And it's like, really?

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Yeah. It's one of those, you know, where you always say it must have been close to the line. Yeah. Yeah. For me, I always think like when with that, you know, we talk about like, you know, whether or not it's suitable for what age of children or or whatnot. This one, it's like, okay, you watch it, and it's like there there's no sex scene. There's two people that make out, you know, and then two other people kiss, and that's you know, that's as far as they go.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

And then it's like, that's it. There's no real no.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

I mean, there's nothing explicit at all.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

They're they go to a shooting range, you know, and they fire some guns.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

Yeah, you know, stat, you know, but still, it's just like, okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Yeah. That's I just thought that was kind of unusual.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Yeah, it's a little it is a little odd, dude. Yeah. But um, so the song The Big Machine, um, the one that was also that he sang um oh on the Zither and then was playing in the credits. That's the song that um became uh that actually really was written for this movie and became kind of a popular song.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

I did not know that.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

I and I I like that song a lot. So for that song, okay, so the actor um Mark Dupla, so he had to learn how to play the zither and sing the song. So he got taught the song by the guys who by the people who wrote it, and the guy, you know, they end up performing it, you know, during the credits.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

And so but then he also learned how to play the zither, and he was like, you know, it's kind of a it's a unique instrument because it's it it's kind of like a guitar, but it lays flat across across your lap.

SPEAKER_02 19:43

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

And then so and then you you're strumming it. And so I was like, so I thought that was kind of cool that um that he actually had to actually play it himself.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

And he actually Yeah, I mean, really, yeah, when they were filming it, I'm going, looks like he's really playing it.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

Yeah, because he he he 100% actually actually learned the song, sang the song, and played and played it. So very impressive. So I I think that's really cool. And it's like it's not like um learning a skill for a film where it's like that is the whole essence of the film, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Yeah, this is just one little piece. One little piece of it. I mean they can't almost faked it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 20:19

Right. Or they could yeah, they could have they could have faked it, they and or they could have even cut it out of the movie altogether, you know. And it, but it's one where it's like, no, he actually He wanted to do it, he actually did it. And it was like, and I think that's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

Where that is that is kind of cool. I like that.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

A little tidbit of information for you. But um yeah, I I don't know. I I this this film for me is it like I said, it's it's a fun little ride. Like I said, it's it's not it's not life-changing, it's not going anywhere, you know. It's easy, it's very, very easy to go.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Yeah, I mean, anybody could just watch this, just you know, just watch it. Yeah, yeah. It's nice. It's and and and it is, I mean, you know, it does make you think a bit it uh a minute. Yeah, you know, but you know, it's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:07

I I love the scene when he goes in to go steal the lasers and they're having like their a birthday party, and then he just he drop he almost drops the item he's getting, stops, and then looks up, and they've all just turned and looked at him.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

It's like Yeah, and he just walks, he's just pushing it away, you know, it's it's crazy. Some of the stuff is like really crazy.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

And I was actually thinking, I was like, if there was actually a real situation of somebody breaks into this place where people work and there's a bunch of people there, probably most people would do exactly that. They would just be like, and you see like the one person on the phone obviously calling it in, saying, like, hey, you know, this guy's like walking out with like, you know, suitcases full of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Uh huh.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

You know, and it's because it's one of those where it's like, you know, oh, nobody's gonna like hop in and Save the day and stuff like it's like no, nobody's gonna do that. That's like, yep, he's getting away, yep, driving away. This is the van, this is the plate, you know. It's like, yeah, that's exactly what you're gonna do. So I but I do love that word. It's like, but so it's so funny. So he has that item, right? That he gets the case, opens the case, and on the case it says, like, caution, do not drop, you know. He takes the item out of the case, and then he's like wheeling it out with the outside of the case. Well, the case is there to protect the item.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Yeah, why not put it back in?

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Why don't I put it back in? And it's like it's always one thing that it's just like that's like okay, it's like, and if it if or if it was like, oh, I've got this now, then like put in your jacket pocket, you know, or it's like, you know, secure it to yourself. No, it's on the wobbly cart that he's like using to push everything else down the down the hallway with.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

So yeah, that that's always the one thing where it's just like, you know, and then of course later on he says, like, you know, his adrenaline's going from it and his stuff. It's like, all right, I guess we can chalk it up to like his adrenaline's going, he doesn't understand, you know, realize what he's doing in the morning.

SPEAKER_02 23:09

Right, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

But yeah, but that's always the one scene that I was just like kind of funny. But I don't know. So but yeah, so uh well I'm I'm happy that I could reintroduce you to this.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Yes, I mean, and and I really did enjoy it. So I maybe that's for people. If you watch it once, you don't quite you know, really like enjoy it, watch it again. Yeah, watch it again.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Yeah, because sometimes that happens with films too, you know. You watch it and then you watch it again, and you're going, okay, yeah, I can see it now, I can enjoy it now.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Well, and we've talked about before, like how it the your mood and your mindset can play a factor in whether or not you're really gonna enjoy something. Exactly. So yeah, so it just could have been one where you just like I just wasn't in the mood. You wanted something super serious, and then it's like, oh, that's what this is about.

SPEAKER_01 24:00

No, I know it's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Yeah, but yeah, so I don't know. It's just it is one that, you know, yeah, don't discount it if you don't like it the first time around. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

All right, so there you go. That's my advice. There we go.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

Like giving the advice.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

Not really, but okay. It works. It works. All right, we're gonna wrap this one up.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

All right, thank you everybody for listening. Make sure you guys go check out Safety Not Guaranteed. And until next time, I'm Barry. And I'm Robin. And we will talk to you guys later.