Director Colin Trevorrow’s and writer Derek Connolly’s debut feature-length movie is a quirky comedy about a writer for Seattle Magazine, Jeff (Jake M. Johnson) and two interns, Darius (Aubrey Plaza) and Arnau (Karan Soni), who investigate the story behind a classified ad looking for a partner with whom to travel back in time. Darius successfully seduces time-traveler-in-training, Kenneth (Mark Duplass), into thinking she’ll be his co-traveler, while trying to get the scoop—lack of journalism ethics aside, it’s quite funny. Trevorrow and Connolly maintain a nice balance of wit, sincerity and weirdness and carry the jokes just far enough, keeping things entertaining for an hour and a half. Without Plaza’s deadpan talent and Duplass’s offbeat charm, this plot could be a little too cute—the witty writing and strong cast proves that comedy doesn’t have to rely on a big budget to be funny.
