The Adam Project Review

There's something to be said about a movie you like when watching it. Netflix's "The Adam Project" is one such movie, where I struggled to identify why or what I enjoyed, or what it even's about, once I sat down and my fingers started smacking my keyboard. Perhaps it's the general likeability of Ryan Reynolds (the film's star) the silliness of time-traveling (the plot-device), or maybe it's in spite of all that. I can't recommend something I can't justify recommending, but I didn't hate it, and that, my friends, is not something all film's can say.

The plot, ahh yes I was dreading this part of the review. Walker Scobell plays Adam, or at least 2022's version of him, who's dad, played by Mark Ruffalo, actually created time-travel but passed a few years ago. It's not clear if he lived to see his work in motion, because oh I dunno, you'd think he'd at least peak at what his future holds or, gasp, any of 2020 and beyond, but hold on there, I'm getting ahead of myself. 

This Adam's a wiseass but "uncool" preteenager. You know the kind, the ones where at school, the teachers lunge out of the bully's way as they give chase. I dunno, I thought kids these days just torture each other online. (I mean, it's hard to keep "six feet away" when you're pounding your fists into the face of another student.)

Anyway, his mother (Jennifer Garner) is still struggling with her loss, but Adam shows her no sympathy- not even his sad mom can escape his sarcastic schtick! What does this have to do with time-travel? Well soon Adam is visited by a much older Adam, played by Ryan Reynolds, who's on the run from the ruthless Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener), who in the future, has a monopoly on the subject. Why is he on the run and why is she so cruel? It turns out, she killed his wife (Zoe Saldaña), and he knows it and wants to undo it. How this is all possibly without creating some kind of paradox is never plainly answered, saving us from the usual science-fiction gobbledygook but robbing us from a core of absolutes; what remains is a plot I understand but couldn't explain how it's possible.

But why did future Adam meet up with present-day Adam? His ship was shot down, and had to take a pitstop while it auto-repairs. He's also shot, but don't worry, Ryan Reynolds is so tough that after a few Band-aids and rubbing alcohol and even the plot's forgotten he's injured. The two trade some humorous if obvious dialogue, mostly about how young Adam just wants to "be" like adult Adam, with muscles and a growth spurt or two. It kept me amused while watching but now, hours since the credits rolled, not one line stuck with me. You'd think the four(!) credited screenwriters would have penned something clever.

The narrative isn't satisfied with just two different years, oh no, we need to travel again, this time to 2018, where their dad is still alive and but has yet to formally create the wormhole tomfoolery (in case you forgot, yes, according to Hollywood 2018 looks just like 2022). With all these timelines, we never see the actual future, except from being told what happens and shown a few weapons. Big deal. Talk is cheap but actually designing a logical tomorrow apparently was outside the budget.

The three plan to break into the sire's company and destroy his work, sorta like in "Terminator 2," ending with gunfire and fisticuffs only the action's a lot less interesting. It all wraps up with a nice little bow, a finish far to neat and tidy. But I don't remember it bothering me as I sat on my couch, tummy full of popcorn and store-bought candy. Now, as I type away, I can't for the life of me understand what I enjoyed. Guess I'll just need to wait for time-travel to be invented, so I can pay my former self a visit and ask.