Oh, holy unblinking eyeballs. That sulky, wallpaper-faced girl from Parks and Recreation has landed herself an indie movie.
Well, of course, it’s an indie movie. Naturally when you think Aubrey Plaza you think of one of those movies with the plink, plinking strains of a banjo, all the quirk you can fit into a retro banana seat bicycle with a flower basket, and a whole bunch of weirdo, odds and end folks who look much like a serial killer therapy group. Yes, this is the indie movie about make believe time travel called Safety Not Guaranteed and co-starring the irascible counter-culture roommate guy from Fox’s New Girl, Jake Johnson, and the girl whose deadpan would never change even in the face of a million sizable elephant farts.
Like seriously, what. is. it. with. this. girl. and. the. completely. pursed. face? Is she constantly eating olives? Is someone rubbing salt on a hang nail in every minute of her life? When she smiles, which she happens to do about twice in this trailer, it’s like the mottled grin of a killer doll in a 1970’s slasher film. It’s just freaky. But, well, whatever, according to Plaza she’s convinced she’s doing the opposite thing she usually does, which is freeze her face in a look of boredom having a stroke. She told NYMag’s Vulture site that “she took the role because it “would sort of allow me to branch out of this sarcastic, deadpan zone that I’ve sort of been in.” Haha! Really?! This is you not being a Kohl’s department store mannequin? Okay.
Plaza aside, the rest of the trailer plays out almost exactly how movies of this ilk do. Hipsters, nerds, and pseudo-hipster-nerds attempt to find meaning in the meaningless, or unexplainable, and while doing so, go on a journey to reach some sort of inner Zen, road trip to see the biggest ball of twine, make their own VHS movies at an old video store, find a fake internet friend, or some other nonsense like that. In this case, chase down a nutball who thinks he can time travel or space jump. Maybe he can and this is like Starman 2.0 or something. Mostly, though, try not to get sucked into one of Plaza’s undulating eyeball cocoons.
Shout out to you know who.
