Walker Scobell shines and dominates in Netflix’s latest original film, ‘The Adam Project’
After the box office success of ‘Free Guy’ for Fox Studios/Disney, director Shawn Levy and Hollywood’s most likable star Ryan Reynolds have joined hands together for a brand new Netflix Original Film ‘The Adam Project’. The new Netflix original is about how a time-traveling pilot Adam (Ryan Reynolds) teams up with his younger self Adam (Walker Scobell) and his father to come to terms with his past while saving the future. ‘The Adam Project’ is a delightful and heartwarming watch.
Right from frame one – the movie doesn’t waste any of the audience’s time, puts us right into the story of Adam going back in time. And what follows next for 100 glorious minutes, is an absolute joyride that has many references to all the class time traveling movies with a touch of Spielbergian style of making with a strong sentimental side to it before we reach the last frame.
The film is stacked with a stellar cast, Mark Ruffalo playing the role of Louis Reed, father of Adam. Jennifer Garner portrays the role of Ellie Reed mother of Adam. Zoe Saldana in an almost extended cameo plays the love interest of Big Adam. The movie does have its own initial set of struggles with setting up its characters but makes up for it as it cruises along with the story.
The chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Walter Scobell is the backbone of this movie. If it wasn’t for their constant banter and relatable humor ‘The Adam Project’ would have struggled a lot. Walter Scobell’s performance as Young Adam stands out the most and leaves a lasting emotional impact on the audience by the end of this movie.
Ryan Reynolds is at his usual best with improvising and a charismatic screen presence. Mark Ruffalo with the limited screen time he has been given leaves a big impact and brings an enjoyable, yet very emotional side to the proceedings. His on-screen pairing with Jennifer Garner is still amazing. But the bonding between Mark Ruffalo’s Luis Reed and Scobell’s younger version of Adam is sure to tug at the audience’s heartstrings.
Catherine Keener plays the role of Sorian – the evil mastermind behind many issues in Adam’s life. Alex Mallari Jr. plays the role of her evil assistant Christos. Keener’s Sorian would have been a lot better if there was a little more development to her character and the same goes for Christos. The biggest issue with ‘The Adam Project’ is that it fails to give their prominent characters a rock-solid backstory. Without a proper backstory, the characters in this film come across as stale and forgettable. But the actors deliver their best with the little they were given and make the watch worthwhile and entertaining.
‘The Adam Project’ was initially set to star Tom Cruise, but slowly slipped into development hell. Later finding its way into Shawn Levy’s hands. Teaming up once again this dynamic duo crush it with their execution. Shawn Levy adds a lot of nostalgic shots that are very reminiscent of the Spielbergian style of filmmaking. However, the film suffers a lot in the third act being that it centers around heavy CGI and the de-aging of Catherine Keener.
Rob Simonsen provides an amazing soundtrack that perfectly suits the mood of the film and makes it a lot more enjoyable. The set and tech design featured in ‘The Adam Project’ is something to marvel at. Shawn Levy gets the job done with Ryan Reynolds again and scores a solid hit for Netflix. ‘The Adam Project’ ranks highly among all the recently released Netflix originals. The biggest strength of this film is the chemistry between Younger Adam and “Middle age” Adam.
Walter Scobell holds his own opposite Ryan Reynolds. His charm and charisma leave a bigger impact on the audience, more so than that of the Deadpool star. Walter Scobell’s comedic timing and dialogue delivery are right on point and aren’t overdone, but are used at very regular intervals to increase the entertainment factor… and it works! Scobell’s scenes with Mark Ruffalo’s Luis Reed halfway through the film lay the emotional stakes and are achieved successfully by the end of its runtime.
With a bit more focus on developing the backstory for their characters, ‘The Adam Project’ could have worked a lot better and the impact would have been much higher. Nevertheless, ‘The Adam Project’ is still a film I highly recommend. It’s an entertaining and emotional watch. After a couple of misfires, Netflix delivers another solid streaming blockbuster, that is sure to rank high in viewing numbers.
The Adam Project is streaming now on Netflix.
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