The Adam Project (2022) + The 'Is It Cake' Algorithm Trap

Is The Adam Project a kid's movie wearing a Ryan Reynolds costume? We dig in.    In this episode:  How Ryan Reynolds' casting rewrote the original script and broke the story Why the kid (Walker Scobell) starts as the hero and gets sidelined by his own movie The DNA-locked spaceship that can't tell the difference between a 10-year-old and an adult Time travel logic: why this movie waves its hand and hopes you're distracted by lasers Mark Ruffalo as "the dad who should be a villain but isn't" and why that casting backfired What a better sequel could look like (and why it would have to kill Ryan Reynolds first) Detour: Is It Cake, Too Hot To Handle, and the death of the prestige Netflix algorithm   Timestamps:  0:00 — The Adam Project's vanilla plot 5:53 — Why the film is an emotional flatline 19:37 — Time travel logic flaws 25:49 — The spaceship DNA problem 31:18 — Rewriting the ending: why erasing the plot never works 34:42 — Detour: Is It Cake and the Netflix algorithm trap 39:15 — Too Hot To Handle and the death of prestige Netflix Reach the show at DontEncourage@gmail.comStop by and discourage us on Instagram, X, TikTok, Discord, YouTube, and Threadshttps://linktr.ee/dontencourageusListen to all the music we've discussed in every episode so far on our Encouraged Grooves playlist on YouTube and Spotify and find your next favorite song.