Safety Not Guaranteed 2012

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: Touching, generous, sweet, this little slip of a movie puts you under some kind of spell. Read more

Kathleen Murphy, MSN Movies: Cocooned in so-hip-it-hurts smugness, these faux-fairy tales perpetuate the sophomoric notion that deadpan quirk and snark are just cover for all that's really warm and cuddly and true. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: "Safety Not Guaranteed" won the Waldo Salt screenwriting award at the Sundance Film Festival, and it is a small-scale winner. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Part road movie, part romance, part coming-of-age comedy and part something entirely its own, "Safety Not Guaranteed" is an unexpected pleasure. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: Movies with a voice as strong, strange, smart and yes, sincere as "Safety Not Guaranteed" deserve to be heard. Read more

Sam Adams, AV Club: Substituting charm, and sometimes quirk, for special effects, the no-budget time-travel caper Safety Not Guaranteed squeaks by on goodwill and guarded expectations. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: A charming movie that blends comedy, romance and science fiction -- not necessarily the most obvious combination of genres, but one that director Colin Trevorrow and writer Derek Connolly manage with assured ease. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: You have to admire the fact that, rather than turning to the safety of snark, this little movie sticks to its big idea: All you gotta do is believe. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: A pleasantly ramshackle affair balanced uniquely between the crass and the sweet. Read more

Drew Hunt, Chicago Reader: The film almost spirals out of control when some overtly conceptual elements are introduced to the plot, but there's enough conviction in the performances to keep them tolerable. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The film is modest but skillful and heartfelt, spiced just so by Plaza and company. Read more

Adam Graham, Detroit News: "Safety" can't sustain its own offbeat energy. By the end, even Aubrey Plaza would roll her eyes at it. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Safety Not Guaranteed is a fable of ''redemption,'' and it's too tidy by half, but it is also very sweetly told. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: A big win for everyone involved, Safety Not Guaranteed is especially exciting for fans of Aubrey Plaza, who proves she's good for more than snarky scene-stealing and can actually carry a film. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Because nothing plays out as anticipated, this off-balance project comes fully alive on screen in a way a written summary can't capture. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Safety Not Guaranteed is droll and hilarious, but there isn't a cheap laugh in it, and the ending is so perfect it sends you soaring. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Delightful proof that money and fame have nothing on ingenuity and wit, "Safety Not Guaranteed" is worth a million meaningless blockbusters. Even if it cost millions less than any one of them. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Connolly ... goes beyond indie cliches to understand these characters, find their humanity and make us feel for them. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Expectedly funny but unexpectedly touching, too. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: "Charming" and "sweet" are two words that can be applied to this movie, which is considerably gentler than the R-rating might imply. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: "Safety Not Guaranteed" not only has dialogue that's about something, but characters who have some depth and dimension. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Sometimes a movie comes out of nowhere and wins you over. Safety Not Guaranteed is that kind of unexpected gift. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It's brisk and assured and never begs the audience's indulgence. No time is wasted. The movie is, at every moment, either funny or pushing the story forward, or both. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: A slight, wistful comedy that, at least up to the ambitious but unsatisfying final scenes, combines sci-fi and rom-com to pleasing effect. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A confident, quick-witted romantic comedy that is a giddy joy from start to finish. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Safety Not Guaranteed" is eccentric enough to get mistaken for an uplifting fantasy, but it's Plaza who belongs in the penthouse. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Neatly, the script embarks on one journey while dangling the possibility of another: the prospect of taking a sudden leap from comic reality into the realm of pure imagination. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: Plaza and Duplass are enormously watchable, and there's a sweet sadness in the movie's focus on lost dreams and missed chances, and the truism that we all long for a time machine every once in a while. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Alas, a sophisticated trajectory is cut short for an outcome that's cringingly earnest. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Safety Not Guaranteed rewards those willing to ditch cynicism for a playful world where anything is possible. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Safety Not Guaranteed casts an enchanting spell from its opening scene. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: A small movie with a big heart, Safety Not Guaranteed is a sci-fi-tinged oddball comedy about love as the ultimate risky adventure. Read more

Karina Longworth, Village Voice: As indie-film nerd-mances go, this one is genuinely sweet. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: "Safety Not Guaranteed" is most vibrant and vital at its edges, in the way that the characters interact with each other while waiting for something to happen. Read more