3 stars (out of four)
A massive asteroid is on a collision course for Earth and
humanity has only three weeks left in Seeking a Friend for the End of the
World, which sort of reimagines The Road as a mainstream road trip comedy, an
idea that is far more successful than may initially sound.
In the opening scene, Dodge Peterson (Steve Carrell) learns
mankind’s last hope of destroying the asteroid has failed and that the
countdown is now official: In three weeks, Earth will be reduced to rubble.
Upon hearing the news, his wife doesn’t hesitate. She bolts, leaving behind an
unhappy marriage and Dodge, now single and alone as he faces a strange new
world.
Life on Earth, needless to say, goes berserk. Cell phone
towers shut down, commercial airliners stop flying and most people who haven’t
already killed themselves make a mad dash to cross everything off their bucket
list. There are riots and orgies and ample opportunities to try all the hard
drugs you were always curious about.
But Dodge can’t quite get into the spirit of the insanity.
He wants to spend his final days with the love of his life, a title that
apparently no longer (and probably never did) describe his wife. He meets Penny
(Keira Knightley), a twentysomething Brit who lives in his apartment building.
They strike up a friendship because they seem to each other like kindhearted,
reasonable people in a world that has suddenly become the opposite.
They learn they have something in common. Dodge wants to
reconnect with his high school sweetheart – he has always regretted not
marrying her when he had the chance – but he hasn’t a clue where to find her.
Penny desperately wishes she could be with her family in London – she always
ditched them in favor of spending time with whatever schmuck she was dating at
the time – but she missed the last plane out of the United States. They will
both be alone when the asteroid hits.
When riots break into their building, Dodge hatches a plan.
He knows someone with a plane who can take her to her family. She has a car and
can drive him to the childhood home of his old flame where he hopes to learn
more about her present whereabouts. If she takes him to the house, he’ll take
her to the plane. And so they embark on a trip through New Jersey, picking up a
dog alone the way (a needless but undeniably adorable inclusion).
Occasionally, the movie takes a narrative shortcut – they
conveniently pass through the neighborhood of an old friend who supplies a
working car, access to a satellite phone, etc. – for which it may be forgiven;
the end is nigh after all and time is short.
The script focuses more on character development, allowing
the friendship between Dodge and Penny to gradually blossom. Typically, when
two big stars of opposite sexes share marquee billing in a film, it is assumed
their characters will fall in love. A few contrived obstacles might stall them
but we understand that these are tedious delays of the inevitable. This is not
quite the case in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. The possibility of a romance floats in the air but
the movie doesn’t force it. They might fall for each other, they might not.
Mostly, Dodge and Penny have bigger concerns and we spend the majority of the
film getting to know them as they get to know each other.
Steve Carrell and Keira Knightley create a believable
relationship. Mr. Carrell in particular has proven himself to be an actor of
surprising range. He often plays everyday types we feel we know – an
incompetent but well-intentioned boss, a comic-book collecting social-phobe –
but he is capable of broader comedy as well. Here he plays a sedate and
melancholic man who, aside from the occasional swig of a cough syrup and vodka
cocktail, is keeping a good sense of humor given the situation. Ms. Knightley
is convincing and charming as a flighty spirit who sees her fickle and
indecisive lifestyle with new perspective in light of humanity’s impending
doom.
Writer/director Lorene Scafaria nimbly walks a tightrope
with regard to the film’s tone. The early portions are dressed in some very
funny, darkly comic gags but by the end, the movie reveals its ooey-gooey
sentimentality. When we get there though, the film has earned the right to be
sentimental because we are invested in the characters and care about them. A
divergent scene between Dodge and his father (Martin Sheen) feels a bit hollow,
as though it was cobbled together from father-son conversations in other
movies, but the misstep is brief.
Watching the film, I was reminded of last year’s 50/50 about a young man grappling with cancer, another
life-affirming movie that finds a warm and inviting tone in grim subject
matter. 50/50 is hardly the most
emotionally raw film made about cancer but it is certainly one of the funniest
and most enjoyable, and achieves this without sacrificing authenticity. Seeking
a Friend for the End of the World does
something similar for the end of days.
The characters in Seeking a Friend alternately riot, party, pray, weep and love in
reaction to news of the world’s demise and today’s filmmakers appear to be
taking similarly varied approaches to the subject. Some craft bleak and beautiful tragedies, others make overblown action blockbusters. Lorene
Scafaria has made a charming and clever romantic comedy. I suppose the apocalypse is
what you make it.
- Steve Avigliano, 6/25/12
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