Review: In ‘The Adam Project,’ a blockbuster therapy session

Ryan Reynolds stars as a time travelling pilot who reluctantly teams up with his 12-year-old self in “The Adam Project.”

Pathos and action are found in equal parts in “ The Adam Project,” the latest attempt by Netflix to create the kind of throwback blockbuster that you might have paid to see in movie theaters.

Starring Ryan Reynolds as a time traveling pilot and directed by Shawn Levy, the movie takes the old cliche about what you’d tell your younger self and adds PG-13 snark, space action, “Guardians of the Galaxy” energy, a megalomaniac businesswoman, a dead father and a lost love to the mix. And it’s pretty satisfying popcorn fare with some genuinely affecting beats. All that’s missing is some Harry Chapin.

This is a project that has been around for a decade — at one point Tom Cruise was attached. But it languished in development and rewrites (there are four screenwriters credited and Jonathan Tropper is the last to have touched it) until Netflix acquired it and in less than two years it’s a finished product.

In “The Adam Project,” we’re introduced to a 40-something Adam (Reynolds) in the middle of a space chase. He’s quick-witted and unflappable, so it’s supposed to be jarring to cut back to see middle school Adam (Walker Scobell in his debut) as the little guy with the big mouth who is prone to getting in fights and losing.