Patrick Donohue is the proudest Indiana native you're likely to find. Seriously. No one is prouder to be from a state that so many people know relatively so little about than he is. Patrick is a native of Terre Haute and a graduate of the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism at Indiana University. Knowing this, you might think he’d be a huge John "Cougar" Mellencamp fan, a man considered by some to be the Hoosier State's poet laureate. But you'd be wrong. In a major way. | It’s not often that a dialed-in pop culture aficionado such as myself allows an album, book or movie to fly under the radar or slip through the cracks.
But it does happen, as it did recently with director Colin Trevorrow’s “Safety Not Guaranteed.”
I vaguely remember hearing about this film as it toured the festival circuit last year, but seeing as it was given what could be described as a limited release, it quickly fell from my consciousness.
I was reminded of the film while perusing the iTunes store for something to pass the time while traveling last month and decided to give it a go.
The 90-minute film was a pleasant surprise and, in some aspects, a revelation.
Set outside Seattle, the movie follows a magazine writer, played by “The New Girl” star Jake Johnson, and two interns, played by “Parks and Recreation” cast member Aubrey Plaza and newcomer Karan Soni, as they track down the writer of a classified ad seeking someone to travel through time with.
Johnson easily has the film’s best laughs, but Mark Duplass of “The League,” who plays paranoid time traveler Kenneth, and Plaza turn in surprisingly remarkable and charming performances.
I was particularly blown away by Plaza, who sheds the dark deadpan of her character on “Parks and Recreation” and demonstrates an emotional range that likely will make directors, producers and moviegoers alike take notice.
“Safety Not Guaranteed” is not a movie for the masses, but it is something different and something special.