The Adam Project

Dir: Shawn Levy. Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Walker Scobell, Catherine Keener, Zoe Saldaña. Cert 12, 106 minutes.

The actor, when he’s at his most effective, takes up the position of the wry, detached observer. But that requires a heart-to-heart with Adam’s mother, Ellie (Jennifer Garner), who’s had to hold down the fort after Louis’s passing. But that involves tracking down Adam’s dad, Louis (Mark Ruffalo), who’s dead in both 2022 and 2050, and reconciling with a parent who always put work ahead of his own child. He’s ultimately asked what he’d be willing to sacrifice for the good of humanity. But he wants to be in the year 2018, in order to find his wife Laura (Zoe Saldaña) who’d previously gone missing in an aborted time-travel mission. The trend continues, now, with The Adam Project. Like Red Notice, it’s another project taken off Paramount’s hands during the pandemic.

Ryan Reynolds re-teams with Free Guy director Shawn Levy for this sci-fi thriller about a time-travelling fighter pilot who teams up with his 12 year old ...

Zoe Saldaña and Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds star in The Adam Project, a time-travel story about a man on an adventure with his younger self.

The form of therapy presented in The Adam Project is obviously impossible, and more than a little simplistic. But its exploration of the wounds of childhood comes from a more earnest place. (Netflix also trots out some of that Irishman technology to put Keener’s face on a body double in scenes where she interacts with her younger self.) And a romantic interlude between Garner and Ruffalo is a little too quippy for its own good. (The movie is full of “Okay, I guess” contrivances of this type.) So he breaks into the backyard of his 12-year-old self, a smaller, more asthmatic, but equally smart-mouthed version of Adam (Walker Scobell). When Levy and Reynolds — both co-producers on the film — play to their strengths, The Adam Project is zippy, agreeable sci-fi fun that produces a few good chuckles. Writer-director Shawn Levy has already collaborated with Reynolds (on 2021’s Free Guy) and shot eight episodes of Stranger Things, so combining the two is a logical next step.

Understand: In terms of moviemaking, no genre is redefined, here; no game gets changed. But the Netflix film is a relatively streamlined affair that moves at a ...

But The Adam Project, as pleasantly slight as it is, gestures toward a career trajectory the actor might enjoy in the years to come, after that jawline softens, that tight bod inevitably enDaddens itself, and his characteristic brio settles into the less effortful confidence of middle-age. It's also possible that the performance works because so much of it exists in the interplay between the two Adams — Reynolds and Scobell. In their many scenes together, Reynolds allows his familiar, keyed-up, outward persona to recede, in order to really listen to the other, younger actor, who doesn't so much steal focus as confidently accept it. Maybe it's that the script gives him more moments to breathe as an actor, as in an emotional scene he shares with Garner in a bar. He's funny in the way he usually is, he's handsome and buff and charismatic as ever. But there's a difference between choosing roles suited to your gifts and using your gifts to force roles into suiting yourself. You knew that this was just a cruel joke that he and his friends were pulling, and you had just a scosh too much self-respect to ever actually make that phone call, yet it's true that the first time you read his note, you flushed with a stupid kind of excitement, imagining for one magical instant that you'd somehow fundamentally misread the previous four miserable years of high school and okay I now realize what I'm describing may have been something less than a universal experience and more of a Me Thing so uh let me get back on track and refocus on my original thesis. No, he was the other kind of jock, the kind that wasn't looking for a career in the NFL, but only trying to gain some leadership experience and expand his extracurriculars. He went out of his way to ask to sign your yearbook at graduation, though you'd never talked to each other; when you read it later, you found that he'd left his number and invited you over to his house to swim at his pool over the summer. Again and again, he's chosen roles that highlight what comes easiest to him: Witty banter, mischievous humor, ingratiating charm. He carried himself with a confidence that he always worried might get mistaken for cockiness or swagger, so he took pains to keep in check. He was on a first-name basis with the custodian, with whom he talked car-racing; the lunch-servers snuck him extra tater tots. And why The Adam Project feels like a small but significant — and possibly even hopeful — departure for him.

Ryan Reynolds, Zoe Saldana, Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo lead the star-studded cast in new action-packed sci-fi movie The Adam Project.

Where have I seen Catherine Keener before? Where have I seen Mark Ruffalo before? Where have I seen Zoe Saldana before? Where have I seen Ryan Reynolds before? The Adam Project is set to skyrocket his acting career whilst working alongside Ryan Reynolds and other notable actors. Who is adult Adam Reed? Adam Reed is a fighter pilot from the year 2050 who time travels back to 2022 in search of his love interest who happens to have got lost in the time-space continuum.

Reuniting star-producer Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy after their winning collaboration on "Free Guy," "The Adam Project" has the generic feel of a ...

Reynolds neatly sums up "The Adam Project's" modest ambitions in the production notes, saying that the concept "ticked every box for us." The Adam Project" recalls the past in cinematic terms by feeling conspicuously like what used to be dubbed a "B" movie, a genre that no longer has much traction in theaters. That's probably enough for Netflix coming off a success with Reynolds in "Red Notice," but like the film's plot, this amounts to rehashing history.

Directed by Shawn Levy and written by Jonathan Topper, T.S. Nowlin, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin, The Adam Project stars Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, ...

- Mark Ruffalo – Louis Reed - Walker Scobell – Young Adam Reed - Ryan Reynolds – Adam Reed

Ryan Reynolds teams up with a younger version of himself in The Adam Project, Netflix's sci-action film that boasts a lot of heart.

Though the tone is what sets the film apart from its ilk, The Adam Project is still a breezy sci-fi action flick that is well-paced and exciting. Casting is what makes this film more than just a run of the mill action film, but that mixture of action and comedy that Reynolds does so well will keep audiences invested the whole way through. Outside of a very distracting use of CGI de-aging tech, The Adam Project is well executed in its vision and doesn’t stray too far from its predicted trajectory. More importantly, The Adam Project isn’t afraid to tackle some of the more emotional aspects of time travel, like the guilt and remorse Older Adam feels for the way he acted as a teen and the lessons he tries to impart on his younger self. There are so many ways that the film’s premise could be mishandled – from the casting to the tone – but director Shawn Levy and star/producer Ryan Reynolds strike that perfect balance that ensures The Adam Project is a fun sci-fi action romp that packs a surprising amount of heart. Young Adam (Walker Scobell) is still reeling from the death of his father a little over a year ago and acts out by antagonizing the bullies at school.

Despite the support of a terrific ensemble cast, Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy fail to strike gold with this uninspiring retread of time-travel ...

Ryan Reynold's new sci-fi movie goes deep into the weeds of time travel. Let's clear a few things up about the ending of 'The Adam Project.'

But then again, all the best time travel movies do. Second, we see Adam and Laura meet again in the future. First, we see young Adam give his mom a hug, confirming that the newfound empathy he picked up during this adventure carried over into the new timeline. This will change the future timeline, meaning Adam will never meet his wife. This is perhaps the biggest issue in The Adam Project, a new Ryan Reynolds sci-fi adventure now streaming on Netflix that tries to bludgeon you over the head with quantum mechanics and time travel mumbo jumbo. Adam is a pilot for one of Sorian’s time-traveling jetplanes.

The Adam Project is now out on Netflix and its time-travel rules could leave you a bit confused, so here's how they work.

Namely, can you change the past and affect the future by using time-travel? It's thanks to Adam's father Louis (Mark Ruffalo) that time-travel is possible. You need a time jet which is coded to its user's DNA, meaning only they can use it and also means that if they're injured, like Adam (Ryan Reynolds) is, they can't operate it on safety grounds.

"The Adam Project," now streaming on Netflix, owes a sci-fi debt to "Back to the Future. But Reynolds spins the laughs at his own speed.

It's hard to imagine a parent who won't relate when Adam embraces his father with the understanding and lack of resentment that only comes from hindsight. Ruffalo brings smarts and warmth to the role of a workaholic scientist who regrets the time he didn't spend with his wife and son. Not since another 1980's hit, "Field of Dreams," has a movie tapped so shamelessly into the bond between father and son. But "The Adam Project" is soon distracted by a busy narrative that comes off more mechanical than moving. "I've spent 30 years trying to get away from the me that was you," says Adam to his younger self. His trip also breaks the rules of parallel contact by bringing Adam face-to-face with his 12-year-old self (Walker Scobell), who is at least his smug equal at sassy backtalk.

The film focuses on Ryan Reynolds' titular Adam, who travels back in time on the trail of his missing wife, Laura (Zoe Saldaña). In the past, he meets his ...

The jump back to 2018 is the last trip through time that both Adams are able to make in their jet, but both of them are transported back where they belong anyway. The catch scene is a sweet call back to Young Adam reminding Big Adam that their dad always made time to play catch with them, and we probably shouldn't think about it too hard beyond how heart warming the moment is after all the trouble the trio have been through. But, Sorian ends up getting hold of Young Adam, and threatens his life to stop Louis and Big Adam from shutting down the accelerator and taking the algorithm that makes time travel possible. Laura guesses that Sorian travelled back to 2018, when the magnetic particle accelerator went live, to give her past self some tips about the future and put herself in the position of being powerful enough to control time travel. Laura gets stuck in 2018 after travelling back after a time jet is shown to have returned from that year in the flight logs, but there's no record of anyone ever going back in the first place. That theory is swiftly shot down by the fact that stopping Sorian and killing her in the past doesn't seem to have spared Louis' life, though. The answer is unclear, but it's safe to say Big Adam is very much in the future by then. As for why Big Adam doesn't remember the events of the film (since he meets his younger self in the past, he should technically have those memories in the future), it's explained that, when a person returns to their fixed time, their memories reconcile with whatever happened in the past. He accidentally crashes into 2022, which is where he meets Young Adam. Together, both Adams travel back again to 2018 to meet their father, which is where (or when) the final showdown with Sorian takes place. Both Adams then travel back to 2018 to find Louis, who had theorized that time travel via wormholes would be possible, and created a magnetic particle accelerator he called the Adam Project as part of his work. Sorian isn't going to go quietly, though, and both adult and younger Sorian arrive, with Young Adam as the older Sorian's hostage. That person turns out to be Maya Sorian, the business partner of Adam's father Louis. She went back in time to give her younger self some tips to amass her wealth and gain control of time travel in the future, and, because she altered the time stream, the trip doesn't show up in the records.

Is there such a thing as too much Ryan Reynolds? Many would argue “no, absolutely not.” The 45-year-old Canadian actor has delivered crowd-pleasing ...

- Night at the Museum This thing is exactly what we set out to make, and I think we’re just going to leave this here.’” - The Internship

The time travel adventure, from Free Guy director Shawn Levy, sees the actor recycling his witty, and often wearying, nice guy schtick.

The Adam Project may gesture at the grand world of time travel physics, but it’s actually quite a simple formula. If the lilt of a tamer Deadpool or, of course, Free Guy are your thing, then The Adam Project will be more of your wheelhouse. Who hasn’t wished at some point to go back in time and savor a simple moment again, tell someone you loved them one more time, cheat death for an hour or two?

Dir: Shawn Levy. Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Walker Scobell, Catherine Keener, Zoe Saldaña. Cert 12, 106 minutes.

The actor, when he’s at his most effective, takes up the position of the wry, detached observer. But that requires a heart-to-heart with Adam’s mother, Ellie (Jennifer Garner), who’s had to hold down the fort after Louis’s passing. But that involves tracking down Adam’s dad, Louis (Mark Ruffalo), who’s dead in both 2022 and 2050, and reconciling with a parent who always put work ahead of his own child. He’s ultimately asked what he’d be willing to sacrifice for the good of humanity. But he wants to be in the year 2018, in order to find his wife Laura (Zoe Saldaña) who’d previously gone missing in an aborted time-travel mission. The trend continues, now, with The Adam Project. Like Red Notice, it’s another project taken off Paramount’s hands during the pandemic.

Ryan Reynolds reaches peak smirk in a manipulative, soul-destroying horrorshow.

His character, Adam Reed, starts off as a freedom fighter of the future in 2050 (hello, The Terminator), who hijacks a spacecraft to go back in time. Back to the Future did all this stuff with skill and grace, whereas The Adam Project manages to feel like an insult to anyone with a late family member. You could hardly parody the payoff of a science-babbling Marvel blockbuster (Antman or Dr Strange, say) with more withering amateurishness.

Time travelers Ryan Reynolds, Zoe Saldana and Mark Ruffalo star in Netflix's frothy but heartfelt family romp.

Catherine Keener does some compelling stuff as a villain who acts as the devil on the shoulder of her own younger self, even if her who-cares evil scheme is basically the plot of Back to the Future 2. Before the bad guys start shooting, The Adam Project explores how young Adam is dealing with the loss of his father. It's a neat example of taking a bit of plot logistics and making it part of the emotional theme. Probably the film's biggest strength is the amount of time it spends establishing the emotional stakes. There's a lot of fun to be had with his futuristic not-a-lightsaber weapon, though it all feels a bit low-stakes as the endless platoon of faceless bad guys just evaporate in bright colors like video game sprites turning into showers of coins. It's a fast-moving, family-friendly sci-fi romp reteaming Reynolds with director Shawn Levy after last year's hit Free Guy, and it has a lot of that same infectious video game energy.

Ryan Reynolds plays a time traveling wise cracker in Shawn Levy's science fiction adventure.

Instead, “The Adam Project,” directed by Shawn Levy, might as well be called “The Ryan Reynolds Project.” Last summer, Levy and Reynolds teamed up under a different Hollywood juggernaut to deliver the clamorous video game flick “Free Guy.” This new movie (on Netflix) is a comparable package — noisy and formulaic, but still occasionally enjoyable. Early in “The Adam Project,” a pipsqueak asthmatic named Adam (Walker Scobell) and his golden retriever gallivant through the woods among shimmering falling debris. Add a few flying saucer chases, cook up a quickie solution to the grandfather paradox and this movie might have fallen at the intersection of “E. T.” and “Back to the Future.”

Young Adam Reed (Walker Scobell) and his mother Ellie (Jennifer Garner) are still grieving. Adam's father (Mark Ruffalo) died in a car accident a year-and-a- ...

There are others when it’s a cross between Star Wars and Top Gun. It’s got all of the emotional heft of a Steven Spielberg movie and the sheer unadulterated fun of a Robert Zemeckis one. That self-aware, sarcastic, smart-ass schtick was always a part of his charm and likability, but the mileage he gets from it really depends on who is behind the camera. Why reinvent the wheel when you can refer to another time travel movie in order to explain the significance of what’s happening in yours? They too know that all of that Van Wilder stuff is becoming a little tiresome and found a way to make it feel a lot less grating. He doesn’t pretend like The Terminator and Back to the Future don’t exist. But also that sense of anxiety and wonder that comes from lying on your back and staring up into the endless night sky. The Adam Project is the kind of movie that you obsessed about if you grew up in the 1980s. At this point, it feels like Ryan Reynolds is just doing a version of himself in every movie. It’s movies like this that make you feel seen, that make you feel like you aren’t alone. If you are seven right now, this is the kind of movie that will likely change your life the way The Goonies, and E. T., and Star Wars, and The Last Starfighter changed mine. Ryan Reynolds plays the older Adam Reed, a time traveling fighter pilot from the year 2050 who accidentally ends up in the wrong year while trying to save the future from being a downright terrible place to live in. Spend any more than a minute thinking about The Adam Project and it is entirely possible that its plot contrivances would just crumble before your very eyes.

Through the magic of time travel, a man from the future teams up with his younger self to try and prevent catastrophe in Shawn Levy's film starring Ryan ...

- Opinion: MIT Leads the Way in Reinstating the SAT You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling Customer Service. No one really watches a time-travel movie for an explanation of time travel—it’s time travel, after all; we’re already on board.

It is the second Netflix film starring Ryan to have Welsh subtitles, following Red Notice, in honour of his links to Wrexham AFC. The National Wales: Ryan's ...

on a good day.” “That’s 2050… A year and a half after the death of his scientist father (Mark Ruffalo) in a car accident, 12-year-old Adam Reed (Walker Scobell) is channelling unresolved grief and anger at his mother Ellie (Jennifer Garner). It is the second Netflix film starring Ryan to have Welsh subtitles, following Red Notice, in honour of his links to Wrexham AFC. RYAN Reynolds' new film will be available with Welsh subtitles. Ryan Reynolds' new movie The Adam Project will have Welsh subtitles

Pine Ridge motel may be a call back to the iconic Lone Pine/Two Pines mall.

It's one of the most famous background jokes in movie history, and explicitly tied to time travel, so it makes sense that The Adam Project (which, again, names Back to the Future in the script) might include a subtle nod. Again, this could be a coincidence but it feels like a riff on classic Back to the Future location Two Pines Mall, where Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and Marty (Michael J Fox) first send their time-travelling DeLorean back into the 1950s. At one point during the film, we see both Adams and their father (played by Mark Ruffalo in The Adam Project cast) meet up at a remote motel to discuss what’s happened, leading to some emotionally charged scenes.

In the Netflix movie, Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds), a time-traveling pilot, accidentally travels back to the year 2022 and enlists the help of his younger self ( ...

However, this scene was to show viewers that adult Adam was still able to meet Laura in the program. There was a lot that went down in The Adam Project, and I enjoyed every single part. Sorian traveled back to 2018 because that’s when The Adam Project had just gone online. So to get to the bottom of the strange occurrence, Laura time-traveled to 2018. Before adult Adam and young Adam disappear, adult Adam asks his younger self for a favor. While they all argue about the hard drive, young Adam nudges the gun held to his head, and a bullet hits the electromagnetic seal of the accelerator. He tells young Adam that he’ll finally get to use the gadgets and tools he’s been wanting to use since the beginning of the film to help fight security. Then, adult Adam, young Adam, and Louis leave Sorian Tech before the building explodes. As adult Adam reaches the entrance of Sorian Tech, he encounters security armed with guns ready to take him back to his fixed time (2050). Young Adam is far off operating a drone that will ultimately injure the security. I could sing The Adam Project‘s praises all day, but it’s time to get into the fantastic ending and explanation of everything that happened. At this moment in the film, Louis Reed has chosen not to partake in the mission. In order to successfully achieve the mission to save the world, Adam also teams up with his late father, Louis Reed (Mark Ruffalo).

Levy began his career in Hollywood as an actor in the late '80s before becoming a full-fledged filmmaker at the end of the 20th century. As a director and ...

For now, Levy holds the strings for an array of upcoming projects, including Disney+’s upcoming Real Steel spin-off and Netflix’s mini-series based on Anthony Doerr’s novel, All the Light We Cannot See. This made Levy think: "'Maybe I want to direct and hold the strings.'" As a director and producer, his filmography includes the Night at the Museum franchise, Real Steel (2011), Netflix's Strange Things, and Arrival (2016). Following work on the latter project, Levy began moving towards science-fiction with Free Guy and The Adam Project, which drops on Netflix this week. Earlier on, he landed a guest-starring role on 21 Jump Street (1987-1991), where he met lead Johnny Depp. Before their first scene together, Levy greeted Depp, "Hi, Mr. Depp. My name’s Shawn Levy. I’m so excited to be here," to which Depp replied, "Welcome to the puppet show. The highly anticipated film also stars Zoe Saldaña, Jennifer Garner, Catherine Keener, and Alex Mallari Jr. There, he must team up with his 12-year-old self (Walker Scobell) as well as his estranged father (Mark Ruffalo) to fight off a horde of bad guys and save the future while confronting personal/familial issues.