Even the most casual dabbler in Internet jokes have seen the ad at the bottom of this piece, a baffling classified entry that holds infinite potential for a good story (and apparently 834509 memes). However, aspiring screenwriters better minimize their pirated Final Draft because filming has already begun in Seattle on “Safety Not Guaranteed,” the movie inspired by the ad that’s being directed by Colin Treverrow from a script by constant cohort Derek Connolly. After working in some smaller TV production and movies, the Duplass brothers have taken the two under their wing and seem to have wrangled the right kind of talent.
Jeff Garlin (“Curb Your Enthusiasm“), Lynn Shelton (“Humpday“), Kristen Bell (“Veronica Mars“), Mary Lynn Rajskub (“Julie & Julia“), Jenica Bergere (“Barry Munday“), and newcomer Karan Soni have joined the previously reported Jake Johnson (“Ceremony“), Aubrey Plaza (“Parks and Recreation“), and Mark Duplass in a story centering on Darius (Plaza), a journalist that responds to the inquiry by Kenneth (Duplass) in hopes for a good story. She becomes skeptical of her beliefs when she soon falls for him and can’t decide whether or not he’s actually building a time machine.
Even though the premise is outrageous and the original joke has made even the most stubborn smile (frankly, “I have only done this once before” is kind of genius), it can easily devolve into something too mushy. Inspiration aside, this general story screams of themes and subjects we’ve already been badgered to death with (he’s misunderstood! he has a good heart!), and seeing as the producing company Big Beach Films has been responsible for the quirky & cuddly “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Away We Go,” we have a feeling it may go down the same route. Still, there’s plenty of potential and we’re fans of Plaza and Duplass so there’s still hope yet.
Besides, it couldn’t possibly be more disappointing than the real story behind the newspaper ad, which was just some joke intended to fill up space in the classified section. There’s some cold truth for the younger crowd: Real life will always let us down.
