MOVIE REVIEW: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Erron’s Grade: B+

Target Audience: 

Fans of dark comedy; those who appreciate satire; stories that feature a romance between two people; doomsday scenarios; movies that significantly feature music/have a robust soundtrack; films directed by women

Plot Synopsis:

From IMDb.com: “As an asteroid nears Earth, a man finds himself alone after his wife leaves in a panic. He decides to take a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart. Accompanying him is a neighbor who inadvertently puts a wrench in his plan.” 

Erron’s Review:

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World posits a really worthy question: what would you do and how would you behave if you knew that the world was ending in three weeks? In this film, an asteroid named Matilda is hurtling towards earth and there is no hope of stopping her.  This causes our protagonist Dodge (played by Steve Carell, emoting with the same soft-spoken sad sack/everyman style that he brought to films like Dan in Real Life and Crazy, Stupid, Love) to go in search of his high school sweetheart Olivia.  Of course this journey commences after Dodge’s wife, Linda, literally runs away from him to pursue her pre-apocalypse bliss with the gentleman she truly loves and Dodge attends one hell of an end-of-humanity house party hosted by Diane (the stellar Connie Britton) and Warren (Rob Corddry) where children are taught to drink martinis and guests are thrilled to experiment by shooting up heroin.  It’s difficult to relay the manic quality of this initial party scene, but it should be noted that the brilliant comedians Amy Schumer and Patton Oswalt are both able to bring a little of their particular brand of humor to the proceedings.  I only wish Schumer and Oswalt were given more screen time, but alas, our story is more concerned with what happens to Dodge after he leaves this particular gathering.

Back in his apartment building, Dodge meets up with a neighbor, Penny (Keira Knightley) who seems to show her quirkiness by sleeping too often and at inopportune times while also traveling about while clutching treasured records to her chest. Penny provides Dodge with a pile of mail that was inadvertently delivered to her apartment that Penny has—for inexplicable reasons—kept in her possession for quite some time.  Within that pile of mail is a love letter from Dodge’s one true love, Olivia.  Dodge decides that—in the face of a rather intense riot—it would be a good idea to meet up with Olivia.  And so with Penny, her records, and an abandoned mutt named Sorry, Dodge sets off to reconnect with his high school paramour.  It would be easy to dismiss Seeking a Friend for the End of the World as a pre-apocalyptic road movie, and in many respects, it is just that. There are detours along the way as Penny and Dodge encounter a variety of unique characters, all dealing with impending doom in the manner those eccentric souls deem most appropriate. 

But the Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is more than just a road film. The core of this movie is how Dodge and Penny begin to open up and care deeply for each other, investing their time and attention into helping the other person reconcile with loved ones.  Penny—a native of Surrey, England—wants to be reunited with her family before Matilda does her worst but needs to find a private pilot to fly her there (all commercial air travel has been suspended).  Dodge needs to find Olivia so he can spend his final hours with the only woman that he has every truly cared for.  The film’s finer moments focus on the little ways in which Dodge and Penny share parts of themselves like Penny’s love for the song “This Guy's In Love with You” by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass or Dodge’s estrangement from his father, who abandoned him at a young age.  It is incrementally, as their journey also progresses, that we see just how right the soft-spoken insurance salesman (Dodge) and peculiarly/neurotically extroverted bum magnet (Penny) are well-suited to meet the end of days together.

Two particularly strong elements that I must emphasize is the strength of the supporting cast.  Any film that can feature small roles inhabited by the likes of Martin Sheen, Derek Luke and William Petersen is something out of the ordinary; all of these actors really make the most of their parts.  The other worthy mention is the music.  Seeking a Friend for the End of the World was written and directed by Lorene Scafaria who was a writer of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, a film which anchored its storytelling in music.  Seeking a Friend for the End of the World also heavily features excellent music and there is one particular montage set to The Hollies’ “The Air that I Breathe” that is heart wrenching and emotionally elevated by the quality of its supporting soundtrack.  At one point in time, the INXS hit, “Devil Inside,” is playing underneath the action of a hedonistic bacchanal and I couldn’t help but chuckle at Scafaria’s choice of musical cue.  

This is smaller-scale film that--with a 101 minute running time--borders on being slight.  The relationship of its central characters and the worthy performances of Carell and Knightley elevate the quality of Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.  Most impressive is the film's ending, which doesn't pull any punches and doesn't disappoint.