Film Review: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)

Director: Lorene Scafaria

Cast: Steve Carell, Kiera Knightley

MPAA Rating: Rated R

The story of "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" is Dodge Peterson (Steve Carell) goes on the search for his one true love alongside Penelope Lockhart (Kiera Knightley) who is trying to get to her family once they learn an asteroid is heading towards Earth that could spell the end of mankind. This story is what drew me to the movie than anything else, as it is a completely original idea for a romantic comedy that I haven't seen and was a good change of pace from the normal Katherine Heigl rom com's we've been subjected to these last couple years.

                       The thing about this film in comparison to most end of the world films (2012, 4:44) is that this film felt real. The film really excels when you see the many different angles of how people react when they learn the world is going to end such as the guy that continues to go to work and pretend everything is alright, the guy that parties it up everynight, the survivalist, or the people who just want to die with the people they love and embrace the end.

                  The story at some points do face some predictability, but with the route they take to get to those moments, are highlighted with some of the best character interactions I have seen in a film this year. The way this film was marketed was as an R-Rated Comedy in vein of Superbad and Knocked Up and I believe that is  what hurt the film.  Dealing with such an contreversial subject such as this can't really be delt with in comedy and has to take a more serious approach and the film is much better for it. Some of the scenes in the film such as when Steve Carell and Kiera Knightley's characters go to a restaurant for dinner that is full of crazy characters that do some odd things such as participate in a group orgy, and I understand why they put the scene in as it was to take a breather from all the serious things going on in the film but I felt like it hurt the film more than made it better.

                    With all great romantic comedies, the thing most people care about is how the two main characters get together because in all romantic comedies they both have to get together. This isn't really a spoiler for the film as it was made clear in trailers and TV Spots and by this point, most romantic comedies are predictable in that aspect. The thing I liked about Carell and Knightley's characters is that what most people saw as an unconventinal relationship, the two actors did such a great job with the material and played so well off eachother that you ended up caring a lot about their relationship.

                      The film comes from writer/director, Lorene Scafaria whose previous film credit included "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" and that style of film is definitely showcased in this film, but I believe that this film features a more grown up direction for the director and if films like this continued to be released then she has a real good future in the film industry ahead of her. This is one of the best films I have seen all year and I definitely recommend you go and see it as with opening box office numbers, this film will not be around in theaters much longer. With a new twist on an old story and great acting, "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" is a great film that will definitely have you talking long after the movie is over.

Final Grade: A-
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