If worshipping the 80's from afar can be considered groundbreaking, The Adam Project is god damn revolutionary. The closest this time travel action comedy from Shawn Levy (Free Guy, Real Steel) ever physically gets to Hollywood's longtime favorite decade to reference is a trip back to 2018, but that doesn't stop The Adam Project from attempting to shape itself in the image of the films from that era. There are nods to everything from Star Wars to Back to the Future to Field of Dreams within the framework of the plot, mega hit songs such as "Time After Time" and "Let My Love Open the Door" are cued up at pivotal moments and the cheese that's oozing out of this thing would be enough to end world hunger for the next several decades. As shameless and creatively stagnant as its whole bowing at the altar of 80's pop culture approach to storytelling is, The Adam Project has just enough sincerity and fun in it to overcome its glaring issues.
Whether it was intentional or not, the pervasive corniness of The Adam Project is actually one of the better things to happen to Ryan Reynolds over the past few years. The melodrama-heavy plot provides the increasingly polarizing star with a chance to finally take a breather from the snark routine that he just can't quite seem to get away from post-Deadpool. While the sarcastic one-liners that have become the cornerstone of Reynolds' on-screen persona are still present-particularly in the opening third of the film, the central emotional hook of the story that forces his character (you'll never guess what his name is!) to reconcile with his estranged parents (Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner), long missing wife (Zoe Saldana) and younger self (newcomer Walker Scobell) bring out the dramatic acting ability that he doesn't show off often enough. By establishing an emotional connection with his scene partners (particularly Ruffalo and Garner-who bring ample warmth and charm to their crucial supporting roles) and grounding his line delivery with a wounded vulnerability that makes it feel like he's ashamed that this is the first time he's ever said these internalized thoughts aloud, Reynolds is able to bring as much sincere heart as a telegraphed, soapy family reconciliation scene allows for. As minor as this may seem, showcasing Reynolds' other acting gifts could end up expanding the type of roles he's offered down the road. And even if it doesn't, at least he got to temporarily sideline the one trick he's always asked to do when gets in front of a room full of people in favor of something more substantial that provided a pretty plain movie with the little streak of excitement it needed to be pushed onto the positive end of the quality spectrum.
As for the rest of The Adam Project, it's another entry in the predictable mixed bag streaming flick universe. The action sequences are competent yet not particularly memorable, it seems completely disinterested in any of the specifics of its own time travel rules that don't involve pushing buttons to create more melodrama and Netflix follows up the memed into oblivion young Robert De Niro scenes from The Irishman with another strong argument for why de-aging technology should be banished from movies forever. What this ultimately adds up to is diverting, nostalgia-baiting cornball nonsense that is fine for a single viewing but doesn't have enough creative firepower to make a rewatch or the franchise Netflix will likely try to turn this into particularly appealing.
Grade: B-
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