If only one could truly go back in time to meet our younger selves or even have the amazing opportunity to talk to that special someone we’ve lost. Unfortunately, our fixed time does not allow us to do that. But luckily, “The Adam Project” managed to make us believe that it’s actually possible during its runtime.
Directed by Shawn Levy, the man behind such classics as “Cheaper by the Dozen”, “Night at the Museum” and the recent action film “Free Guy”, “The Adam Project” follows a middle-aged pilot named Adam (Ryan Reynolds), who can travel through time. But it’s not until he gets stuck in the year 2022 that things start to get more complicated, interesting, and frankly, a lot more fun. Lucky for us, seeing Adam getting stuck in 2022 was truly a blessing in disguise. You see, by getting stuck in 2022, he ends up meeting his younger, fragile little self, played by newcomer Walker Scobell. The young man who in my books has earned the title of the funniest and most lovable performance of the year so far. It’s that dynamic between Reynolds and Scobell with more than a few hilarious interactions between them and some clever movie references along the way to movies like “Star Wars” and “Back to the Future” what keeps this production entertaining enough and easily ensures it as one of the best Netflix original films of the year.
Now, this movie is not entirely just fun and games, it also has its emotional side. The writers really managed to bring it all to the table and balance it in such a way that we can also breathe and enjoy those small but powerful scenes between the action sequences. Some key scenes that connect us to the film with a much more tangible and relatable storyline. Putting the entertaining stories about time travel aside, this movie, above all, is about grief and family.
To bring that emotional side of the film to life we have Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana to thank for. All of them shine from the very first moment they appear on screen and even more so when they have those very same key scenes with our main characters that put both their feet and ours on the ground again. To explain in more detail how their roles come into play and impact both “middle-aged Adam” and “Butternut Sippy Cup” would be rude of me and would ruin the whole movie experience for you so I won’t go into that in this particular review.
But know this, this film and its characters explore something that we all deeply wish were possible. No matter what the reason, it’s only human to wish for the opportunity to turn back time and be able to reunite with that loved one once again. Something that this film shows us impeccably in a lighter tone and with a sense of humor (that only Reynolds and now Scobell could deliver) is that we cannot change our reality or even the destiny of another person. But what we can do is enjoy the time we have now and live in the present.
If that message reaches every household who decides to give this film a chance when it premieres on Netflix this Friday, then I can confirm that the movie did what it was created to do and did it flawlessly.
La Dura del Cine 