For strong but somewhat lost-in-life female leads, check out Laggies and Safety Not Guaranteed. Both films take place in the Pacific Northwest – Keira Knightley (playing against part) in the former, Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation fame) in the latter.
Both ladies are having moments of crisis, trying to figure out what to do next in their rote-lives. While Knightly’s Meagan is still in protracted adolescence, over-educated and under-employed, Plaza’s Darius is working as an intern for a Seattle magazine, living in her soap bubble of melancholy and detachment.
But of course, adventure calls.
Fleeing from a friend’s wedding (Ellie Kemper in uptight WASP form), Meagan meets a group of teens and after buying them alcohol, ends up hanging out, reliving a bit of her adolescence in their company. During a meeting, Darius’s arrogant but likeable boss, Jeff (Jake M. Johnson) discovers an ad in a small town classifieds looking for a time traveling companion. He needs a team of two interns to assist him in the investigation and article – Darius volunteers.
Both ladies find male leads to love: Craig (Sam Rockwell) for Meagan, a divorce lawyer and father to Annika (Chloe Grace Moretz) one of the teens she befriends; Kenneth (Mark Duplass) enters the picture for Darius, the time-traveler with a quirky but humane approach to his ‘mission’.
Fun fact: the director of Laggies, Lynn Shelton has a role as ‘Uptight mom’ in Safety Not Guaranteed. So beyond the pines and the Pacific beaches featured in both films, and the great indie-vibe, you can have this other minor but interesting link between the two.
