R, 101 min.
Director/Writer: Lorene
Scafaria
Starring: Steve Carell,
Keira Knightly, Mark Moses, Adam Brody, Connie Britton, Rob Corddry, Melanie
Lynskey, Patton Oswalt, William Peterson, T.J. Miller, Gillian Jacobs, Bob
Stephenson, Derek Luke, Martin Sheen
It’s hard to give a negative
review to such an intelligent film, but sometimes intelligence cannot replace
entertainment. The movie is about exactly what its title says it’s about, “Seeking
a Friend for the End of the World”. It suggests that in our society, that might
be more difficult than we might imagine.
Yes, the world is really
ending. This is a problematic development for a romantic comedy, but gosh darn
it, these filmmakers give it their best shot. Not much is explained about the
end except that an extinction event asteroid is headed for Earth and nothing
can stop it. There are 21 days left before impact as the film starts.
The first twenty minutes of
the film are the best as it presents some pretty scathing, sharp-witted
commentary about the meaningless priorities we’ve set forth for ourselves in
our current society. Steve Carell plays Dodge, whose greatest revelation from
the impending demise of everything is that he has almost nothing of true value
in his life. His wife literally runs away from him the moment the news that
there is no longer any hope for salvation breaks. He continues to go to work,
because he really has nothing better to do. But eventually even that is too pointless
to prolong. He’s in insurance. Ha, ha. He meets a neighbor who also seems to be
clinging on to her own dignity while everyone else is submerging themselves
into abandoned bacchanalia.
From that point, the movie
really doesn’t have anywhere to go, so it journeys down the rom com road just
for the hell of it, I guess. As a rom com, it’s OK, but that’s all been made
irrelevant by the film’s set up. It is beautifully shot and wisely observant,
but after the first act it has so firmly established the pointlessness of it
all, that the rest seems rather dull and uninspired. I like the photography,
the dialogue, the actors, the characters, but I just found it hard to care
about a romantic comedy after they had explored to possible realities of
doomsday in this day and age.
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