ניו רייאַן ריינאָלדס פֿילם אויף נעטפליקס

Netflix
נפלקס
has just released its new would-be blockbuster movie, Adam Project, starring Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldaña and Catherine Keener. Directed by Shawn Levy, just two years after his last film פריי באָכער also starring Reynolds, Adam Project is on the streaming platform since March 11, and has already been panned by some critics, even though it is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

Adam Project has all the nostalgic charm of the movies it is referencing, namely צוריק צו דער פיוטשער און עט די עקסטרע-ערדישע, ווי געזונט ווי שטערן וואַרס און, פון קורס, 13 גייט אויף 30. But behind these references, or homages, is an action-packed sci-fi film, full of humor and emotion, if at times over-sentimentalized, about grief, a father-son relationship, and one’s own relationship with oneself.

Adam Project sees Ryan Reynolds play Ryan Reynolds as a pilot named Adam Reed, who meets his 12-year-old self as he time travels to 2022. Walker Scobell plays the 12-year-old version of Ryan Reynolds, here named Adam, in quite a convincing performance, capturing Reynolds’ annoying/witty (depending on your mood or taste) quips. Young Adam is being bullied and is regularly being suspended from school, to the dismay of his mother (played by a great Jennifer Garner), who pleads to the school principal for compassion for her son after losing his father less than a year ago. After asking his younger self his age, middle-aged Adam sees he has travelled to the wrong year. He was meant to go to 2018, but somehow ended up in 2022.

Adam Project unfolds implicitly. The beginning of the film never reveals the real reasons why Adam time travels to his past or why he makes contact with his younger self (something strictly forbidden in the time travel rule book). The opening sequence shows Adam in 2050 being chased and shot at by another plane before he flies into a wormhole, but the reasons for this is not explained until much later in the film. It is only when he finds his wife, Laura (played by Zoe Saldaña), or rather when she finds him, that it becomes clear that it was she Adam was searching for. When he finds Laura, Adam (and by extension, the viewers) discovers the real reason why he should have travelled back to 2018: to meet his late father, Louis Reed (played by Mark Ruffalo), and save the world from a power-and-money-hungry villain, Maya Sorian (played by Catherine Keener).

Although the film flows implicitly, its narrative appears to be pulling in multiple directions. Is this the story of a man reconnecting with his younger self, searching for his missing wife (the “love of his life”), righting the wrong past behavior towards a grieving mother, or meeting with his dead father with the opportunity to say a final goodbye? Adam Project is all of the above, which means than none of it is explored with any real depth, leading to some surface-level platitudes about love and grief.

One of the greatest things about this movie is the interaction between Adam and his younger self. Reynolds and Scobell form a great duo, pulling at each other’s strings with sarcastic side remarks. There is a great chemistry between the two actors. There is a sense that both young Adam and older Adam need each other to grieve the death of their father, Louis. Mark Ruffalo’s presence adds another layer to the duo. Roles seem to reverse when the two Adams finally meet with Louis. The annoying younger Adam suddenly becomes wiser and more understanding than his older self.

Many times throughout the film the precept that the historic timeline should not be altered is reiterated. This is the rule established by films such צוריק צו דער פיוטשער about time travel. But, what is the point of time travel if one of its fundamental rules comes to be that the future must not be altered? Why travel back in time if you cannot save a loved one from death? Adam Project‘s climactic conclusion would suggest that there is no point to time travel at all, other than to reflect on the past of one’s life.

Adam Project is an entertaining movie to watch with the whole family, and has the potential to become Netflix’s next big hit. The film has jumped to the top of Netflix’s Top 10 charter across countries worldwide a day after its release on the platform.