Early in The Adam Project, a pipsqueak asthmatic named Adam (Walker Scobell) and his golden retriever gallivant through the woods among shimmering falling debris. The cause of the wreckage, Adam learns, is a time jet that was crash-landed by his older self (Ryan Reynolds) travelling from the future. This is pure 80s sci-fi pastiche for the ages. 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.
Instead, The Adam Project, directed by Shawn Levy, might as well be called "The Ryan Reynolds Project". In the summer, Levy and Reynolds teamed up under a different Hollywood juggernaut to deliver clamorous video game flick Free Guy. This new movie (on Netflix) is a comparable package -- noisy and formulaic, but still occasionally enjoyable. Reynolds recycles his trademark twerpy charisma, using quips to punctuate battle scenes that are spiced up with special effects. Mileage for the actor's wise-guy persona will vary -- I've personally had my fill for several lifetimes, with or without time travel -- and it's hard here to separate the movie from the leading man.
