Levy, Shawn

The director Shawn Levy narrates a sequence from the film, which also features Walker Scobell.In “Anatomy of a Scene,” we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series on Fridays. You can also watch our collection of more than 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel.The central idea behind the Netflix sci-fi adventure “The Adam Project” is presented in this comical, yet tender, living room scene.The 12-year-old Adam (Walker Scobell) is questioning a strange man (Ryan Reynolds) he has found in the shed behind his house. They have the same mannerisms, the man knows the kid’s dog’s name (Hawking) and they’re both wearing the same watch. Could it be they are past and future versions of each other?“I wanted this scene to not only lay out the premise of the movie,” said the director Shawn Levy, “but to do so in a way that would essentially establish a pact with the audience as far as tone, that this movie would have a somewhat fluid, blended tone that vacillates between comedy and poignancy.”In the sequence, Scobell must mimic Reynold’s mannerisms. Levy said it came easy for the young actor, who is making his screen debut.“When we cast Walker, we knew we had found this revelation who had never done anything, and we knew the kid was smart and authentic and talented,” Levy said. “What we didn’t know is that he had been watching the ‘Deadpool’ movies since he was 7, so he shows up on set and he gets to co-star with his hero, whose rhythms and inflections he has literally ingested for half of his very young life. So we never needed to teach Walker how to say and do things the ‘Ryan Reynolds way.’ He already knew how.”Read the “Adam Project” review.Sign up for the Movies Update newsletter and get a roundup of reviews, news, Critics’ Picks and more. More

Ryan Reynolds plays a time traveling wise cracker in Shawn Levy’s science fiction adventure.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) traveling 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.” Last summer, Levy and Reynolds teamed up under a different Hollywood juggernaut to deliver the 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.This is because Reynolds imbues Adam with such excitable, exhibitionistic energy he might as well be waving jazz hands. Levy and the screenwriters, Jonathan Tropper, T.S. Nowlin, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin, have crafted in “The Adam Project” a vehicle that enables Reynolds to multiply his shtick by two. By allying Adam with himself, not only can Reynolds poke fun at his adversaries — “your outfits are incredible,” he gushes at one point to a squad of henchman — he can actually mock his own insufferableness. “You have a very punchable face,” he tells Adam the preteen early in their peregrinations. Scobell, for his part, mirrors Reynolds’s mien with precision, making the duo feel less like Marty McFly and Doc Brown than twin sidekicks who stumbled into the spotlight.Their adventure begins when the adult Adam, visiting 2022 from 2050, explains to his kid accomplice that time travel has ruined mankind, and impeding its invention is their only hope. Complicating the mission is Adam’s dad, Louis (Mark Ruffalo), a physicist who models traversable wormholes, and Louis’s ruthless business associate, Maya (Catherine Keener). How tampering with the past will upset the future — including Adam’s marriage to fellow insurgent Laura (Zoe Saldaña) — is a mystery that the movie declines to dwell on.Blissfully under two hours, “The Adam Project” is no modern classic. But it does benefit from an affecting finale that pays special attention to Adam’s strained relationship with his father. Reynolds may play the smart aleck, but beneath Adam’s zingers he is compensating for a profound pain, and Louis is critical in activating his son’s tender side. It’s an unexpectedly sweet note to end on. Or perhaps it’s just that after a double dose of wise cracking, some authentic feeling is a welcome respite.The Adam ProjectRated PG-13. A little battle, a lot of prattle. Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes. Watch on Netflix. More