'The Adam Project' a solid Ryan Reynolds sci-fi romp - East Idaho News
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‘The Adam Project’ a solid Ryan Reynolds sci-fi romp

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Have you ever been asked what you’d say if you traveled back in time twenty years and met your younger self? Well, somebody took that thought experiment and built it up into a whole feature-length film.

The film in question is called “The Adam Project” and it revolves around Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds) going rogue and traveling back in time. He runs across his present-day, 12-year-old self (Walker Scobell) and the two of them embark on an adventure with the fate of the future hanging in the balance.

High-tech sci-fi fun for the whole family ensues.

“Adam” isn’t terribly original. The futuristic aircraft look like they were stolen off the set of an “Avengers” movie. The plot borrows from “Terminator,” “Back to the Future” and “Field of Dreams.” The action scenes are cool but not jaw-dropping and the visual effects are pretty standard for this kind of modern sci-fi action flick.

So what does “Adam” have going for it? Well, it’s got Ryan Reynolds.

Reynolds has developed a wise-cracking, devil-may-care persona over his career and, like many classic film stars from James Cagney to John Wayne, many of his characters are just that persona with a different name. Future Adam in the movie is Deadpool without the f-bombs, a tough-guy jester who’s always breaking the tension by cracking jokes.

Your mileage may vary with this persona, but I still enjoy it. What’s more, we get to see this character forming in the way Scobell plays present Adam. Scobell’s Adam is a kid whose mouth is ever writing checks his body can’t cash. Watching Reynolds and Scobell work off each other and deal with the oddities of their situation is pretty fun.

Reynolds and Scobell get solid support from the rest of the cast. As Adam’s mother, Ellie, Jennifer Garner embodies the frustration and sadness of a single mom who feels like she’s failing. Mark Ruffalo is suitably cold and detached as Adam’s father, Louis. Watching both versions of Ryan try to work out their issues with their parents provides a solid kick of emotion to the second half of the movie.

Unfortunately, “Adam” had plenty of issues, too. For one thing, it wastes two great actors in Catherine Keener and Zoe Saldana. Keener is the main villain of the movie and, boy, is she ever bland. Saldana doesn’t get a ton of screen time, so we don’t get to learn much about her. They could’ve cast any actress in that role and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. That they cast Saldana and only give her a few scenes that don’t give her much chance to leave an impression is depressing.

Also depressing is the direction of Shawn Levy, whose previous work includes “Night at the Museum,” Real Steel” and “Free Guy.” Levy is a steady veteran Hollywood director, which means he has a good grip on turning the script as it is on the page into a visual story but he doesn’t do much to elevate it. There’s nothing about this movie that feels personal or like it means anything to Levy. He does a competent job but nothing more.

“The Adam Project” isn’t the worst movie you’ll ever see and for a film made by Netflix, it’s actually pretty darn good. It mops the floor with dreck like “Bright.” It’s the presence of Reynolds and his chemistry with Scobell that make this movie worth seeing. If nothing else, it’ll give you time to ponder what advice you’d give the 12-year-old version of yourself.

“The Adam Project” is currently available to stream on Netflix.

Thanks to Fat Cats in Rexburg for providing screenings for movie reviews on EastIdahoNews.com.

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