Movie Review: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Directed by: Lorene Scafaria

Synopsis: An asteroid is hurtling towards Earth, and we have no way to stop it. In just under a month, the world is going to end. Dodge Peterson (Steve Carell) is afraid he'll die alone, until he meets his neighbor Penny (Kiera Knightley), who agrees to help him find his lost love if he can help reunite her with her parents in England.

Review: If nothing else, I can say that "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" isn't the kind of movie you see everyday. The best I can do to describe it is to call it a darkly comedic romantic apocalyptic road movie. Those genres admittedly don't mix together perfectly, but I still found this to be an interesting and very well acted movie.

The problem with the movie is that it doesn't blend the comedy and drama as well as it could, resulting in a movie that feels very different from one half to the next. For the first half, it's much more of a dark comedy that shows all the crazy or destructive things that people might do knowing they no longer have social obligations or a future to worry about, as well as Dodge's attempts to continue his life despite the chaos. Most of this first half seemed a bit hit or miss in terms of humor. I personally found most of it very funny, but most others in the theater weren't laughing nearly as much as I was.

The second half, where it switches to more of a quirky indie road movie, and eventually into a romance, gets a lot more dramatic. I didn't mind this so much, but I think most people might not like the big change in tone, especially given that this is being marketed as a comedy. It's in this half, however, that the movie gets a bit deeper, and starts to make you think about what you would do, or who you would want to be with during your own last moments on earth. As Dodge and Penny drive through suburban N.J. trying to find Dodge's lost love, they come across many different people, with many different reactions to the coming apocalypse, and I felt that this is where the movie really got interesting and thought provoking, which I really didn't expect.

So, while it feels kind of like two different movies rolled into one, it at least feels like two very good movies rolled into one. What really makes this one worth it, though, are the strong performances from Steve Carell and Kiera Knightley. Although they feel like a really odd couple, they work pretty well together, both with the drama as well as the comedy. Carell especially shows that he's totally capable of being more than just Michael Scott, and if this is the kind of work he's going to continue doing, I'd say it's worth him leaving his role on the TV show "The Office" last year.

I was a bit disappointed to see how badly this flopped at the box office opening weekend. Sure, I didn't expect it to do "Avengers"-style business, but it's a unique movie that certainly deserves more than the 10th place opening it got! While the jarring change in tone might annoy some people, those who want something different from the typical raunchy comedy or action blockbuster that comes out during the summer should definitely check this out. It might not have the spectacle to make you want to spend $12 on it, but I'd say definitely give it a chance on your free movie Tuesday, if you have that option, or at least give it a shot on DVD.

My rating: 7.5/10