The Adam Project

Released on Netflix on March 11, 2022

Runtime: 1 Hour 46 Minutes

Rated PG-13

Adam (Ryan Reynolds) travels back in time on a heroic mission and meets his younger self (Walker Scobell). The movie has an 80s/90s blockbuster movie feel to it. Lots of nerd references, cool future tech, a time traveling spaceship, and Adam’s parents (Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo: together again for the first time since 13 Going on 30) all play pivotal roles in a story that feels like Back to the Future mixed with Flight of the Navigator. I’ve also seen it compared to The Last Starfighter and Back to the Future, which would also be a good description. It’s hard to go into too many details without giving plot points away. Zoe Saldana is also in the movie and kicks butt as usual.

Themes:

Themes in the movie includes family, time travel, forgiveness, anger, sadness, parents, parent child relationships, love, loss, grief, corruption, nerds, bottling up your emotions, and being real.

Language:

This movie gets its rating for some fight scenes, but mostly language. This movie includes the following words multiple times: what beavers build, another word for something your dog leaves you in the back yard, the King James version of donkey, an old school word referring to a female dog, and religious exclamations. There are some sexual references like “the bad man touched me” and “Do we get laid?” There is also some name calling from bullies and other characters.

Stuff to be aware of:

There is a scene that implies a husband and wife have sex, but you only see them kissing heavily. There are many fight scenes, a little blood, but nothing too graphic. When someone dies in the movie they kind of disintegrate, but its not bloody or gross. My biggest complaint is the language. Ryan Reynolds, as usual, curses a lot.

Overall:

I really enjoyed this one. It has great music, witty and funny dialogue, great acting, and a really fun story. The story is a bit predictable, but every other aspect of the movie makes up for it. Don’t expect a lot of twists and crazy surprises. The chemistry between Reynolds (older Adam) and Scobell (younger Adam) is phenomenal! The kid acts like he could seriously be a younger Ryan Reynolds. He has the one liners and the classic Reynolds “you’re dumb and I’m cool” insults down. It is a real joy to watch them acting as the same person but as different ages. These days I don’t watch too many movies a second time, but I would really enjoy watching this one multiple times and quoting it randomly.

“Who talks like that? Did you order like a Bully Starter Kit on Amazon or somethin?”

"Shut the physics fountain in your face!"

See, fun right?

There is also some neat therapeutic and family messages in the movies. One piece of dialogue I loved was, “its easier to be angry than sad.” There are some good messages about family, parenting, and emotions in this movie. Some good little nuggets of wisdom to take to heart.

If you enjoy a good laugh, time travel movies, or sci-fi I would suggest this one.