Ryan Reynolds is on a roll, and he’s been a busy, busy boy. His latest is the greatest of all his recent flicks the Deadpool star has been a part of in the last two years. The Adam Project debuts on Netflix on March 11 and is a sci-fi-centric thriller that also works as a study in family dynamics in its purest form.
The star of Free Guy inhabits the role of a pilot from 2050. Reynolds is “Older Adam,” who arrives in our present-day due to a technical issue. You bet he still has one eye on his ultimate goal when he decided to “borrow” a U.S. military jet and leap through time for the most heart-wrenching of reasons.
First, he must conquer the skepticism and attitude from a fresh from his 13th birthday party teenager, who also goes by Adam (Walker Scobell). Whether older him or younger Adam, The Adam Project is about so much more than the general premise.
Its scope is global in its extent of subject matter and then on a dime, the narrative can morph into chats about mending fences with late fathers. Louis Reed (Mark Ruffalo) gets ensnarled in the story, which if you think about it, is a blessing. To be able to hang out with my decades younger dad, me at 40 and me at 13… there would be some fascinating chats.
There is an impending threat, for that there is no question. Ruffalo’s Louis, coupled with adult Adam’s skills, along with young Adam’s input—might just be successful in preventing a global meltdown. All the usual time traveling multiverse creation is addressed, but thankfully for The Adam Project, that aspect is on the lighter side. It seems that time travel movies have boxes they have to check and literally address these issues head-on or someone, somewhere will catch the inconsistency.
Therefore, having someone like Shawn Levy at the helm of this ship is exactly the steady hand it needs.
Levy (Night at the Museum movies, Free Guy) is the helmer for The Adam Project and after witnessing it, that “directed by” credit at the conclusion should make a lot of heads nod up and down. See, Levy’s the guy who has given us Stranger Things, Date Night, and the beloved cult classic Real Steal.
The director seems to excel at these types of adventure films where there is a heavy reliance on CGI, which also means there’s a whole lot of imagination work going on to capture Levy’s vision for the nitty-gritty of The Adam Project. It all excels. I firmly believe that the director is simply scratching the tip of his storytelling iceberg. There are not only Oscars awaiting Levy in his future, but many, many box office hits that will leave an indelible mark on Hollywood.
The kid at the heart of Levy’s latest—young Adam—is played with such a strong, while still budding teenage groundedness by Walker Scobell. His is a pivotal role in whether the plan succeeds or fails. Yes, literally the fate of humankind hangs in Adam’s balance. Hey, especially as a teenager, it’s nice to feel needed.
There is much more for Jennifer Garner to do and more required of her as Ellie Reed in The Adam Project than she had in a similar role in Draft Day. Sure, she’s a doting wife to Reynolds’ Adam and one amazing mother to their children. What Adam is going through throughout the film, he involves Ellie and relies on her priceless counsel.
Garner is terrific and clearly welcomed the opportunity to portray more than simply the thankless “the wife” wallflower role that too many scriptwriters are guilty of crafting. Cheers to the writers, Jonathan Tropper, T.S. Nowlin, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin.
It’s personally hard to believe that Mark Ruffalo is old enough to portray a grandfather in The Adam Project, but that’s more my problem with the inescapable wonderment at the passage of time. He nails the part and particularly after spending some time with both “old” Adam and “younger” Adam, it’s nice to see how the apples do not fall far from the tree. Ruffalo can be a complicated actor. As such, he adds layers to an otherwise general scientist/professor role that emotively connects with each and every person witnessing this movie.
Actresses Keener and Saldana could not have been more polar opposites than if they were a pelican and a Northwestern Seahawk. That’s a good thing within the framework of The Adam Project. Both actresses shine and are vital to the narrative and specifically, how it all plays out and their involvement in the conclusion of Levy’s film.
There is just something about The Adam Project that reminds of the Amblin Entertainment (The Goonies, E.T., Back to the Future) films of the 1980s. They were fun. They were thrilling and most importantly, they have stood the test of time and I would be that Levy’s The Adam Project also will.
Grade: A