There’s the adage that when you go to Target, you can go thinking you know what you need, but Target will tell you. This writer has grown to see that Netflix is like the Target of streaming services, except instead of money, it’s taking your time. And arguably, time is more precious.
So when you’re willing to give your time to Netflix, especially when you’re willing to give it over and over, one could argue that Netflix is more powerful than Target. And I would be on the side of the argument that they are, because the truth is – time feels like the only thing that I don’t have and yet, somehow, today alone, I have managed to watch The Adam Project twice.
Netflix suggests shit all the time – but with The Adam Project, it told me what I needed. And it’s been a long time since I have been this thankful for someone telling me just that.
I remember being younger and watching movies like Back to the Future and thinking how cool that time travel would be. But as time went on the movies of the 80’s and 90’s gave way to the over the top blockbusters of the 2000’s and time travel became a concept that wasn’t fun anymore. It was just too complicated and I was left debating with friends if Captain America should have stayed in the past and gotten his last dance.
But that a little bit set aside, what The Adam Project did was pay homage to the movies of the past and gave me the feeling of a blockbuster while being a movie like they used to make.
One with heart, lesson, and love.
The short answer of what The Adam Project is about? Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Zoe Saldana and more in the time-traveling adventure, The Adam Project. In the movie, “After accidentally crash-landing in 2022, time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed teams up with his 12-year-old self on a mission to save the future.”
But The Adam Project is complex. It’s not as simple as the summary makes you think. The movie is provoking making you think, feel, scream, and cry. If you read any of our reviews on here you know that one of the things that marks a good movie for us is one that makes you feel an emotional connection.
This movie does just that. For every character on the screen.
From the moment that the movie opens up, you’re invested in Adam. Walker Scobell takes on the role of a young Adam and he may be the first actor I have seen that can hold your focus or take your focus when Ryan Reynolds comes on the screen. Why? Because he’s like a young Ryan Reynolds – sarcastic, funny, deadpan, and insightful. He captivates a screen and you just know that this kid is going places.
But the character of young Adam is a little shit, who needs to have a course correction in his attitude, and he does get that from older him, played by Reynolds. It’s kind of invigorating and also a sad sight to see, because one wonders what would you say if you came face to face with yourself?
Older Adam seems to hate younger Adam, but knows that he needs him. Somewhere along the way life hardened Adam. He can give younger him all of the advice in the world, but he is just at sometimes completely non-filtered and if I was a 12 year old, I would be scared of him.
But the beauty of the movie lies in the relationship between older and younger Adam. Scobell and Reynolds have an on screen chemistry that makes it easy to believe that they could be the same person.
Secondary are Adams parents which producers did a smart job casting Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner, who the world has loved as a pair since 13 Going On 30. Both are excellent as Adams parents, and probably a highlight for me, was them talking with future Adam (only maybe not knowing who he is). But each interaction is carefully crafted and touches you in a different way.
Also playing a minor role, but one that is big in shaping Adam, is Zoe Saldana, who plays future Adams wife. She comes in guns blazing and she makes sure that you know that women are bad ass and can do whatever they set their minds to.
As much action that The Adam Project has, it’s about loving the people in your life when they are there and saying the things that you need to say. It’s about remembering the positive. The Adam Project is a story that at its heart is about reconciling with the past and accepting what is.
And throwing a ball around when you can.
The Adam Project is streaming on Netflix now.
