Seeking a Friend for the End of the World had the misfortune of coming out snuggled between The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises in the UK. Though it may well have been strategic counter programming to the superhero mayhem that was dominating the marketplace, a black comedy about the end times was never going to go over well with people looking for escapism in these dark recession drenched times.
Now it’s out on DVD and Blu-Ray this film should get the wider audience it deserves and it may well surprise you for just how unlike the jaunty trailer the film actually is.
Well tell a lie, for the first twenty minutes or so this film is the light and breezy trailer before becoming something far deeper and more heartfelt with an uncomfortable essential truth right at its core. We learn in the first scene that a comet named Matilda is hurtling towards Earth and the NASA mission to destroy it has failed. At this point we are in a car with Dodge (Steve Carell) and his wife who faced with her demise gets out the car and leaves him never to return. We then get to know the world in the final days, people still go to work, some commit suicide and seemingly everyone left alive is uncharacteristically enjoying themselves, except Dodge who mopes around turning down the seemingly endless invites to suburban middle class orgies.
Dodge pines not just for his wife who he learns was having an affair, but also for that high school sweetheart who apparently still pines for him in return which Dodge learns about thanks to his neighbour Penny (Keira Knightley) an ex-pat English girl stranded in a bad relationship who yearns to get home and spend the final days with her family. The two of them form a bond as a riot breaks out in their neighbourhood and set off on a cross-country journey to re-unite Dodge with his old flame and get Penny to an airplane and pilot that Dodge knows of. This is pretty much all you should know about the plot so you can be surprised by it, part of the greatness of the film is the way it goes into places you did not expect.
Writer and director Lorene Scafaria is best known for Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, a teen rom-com that was a cut above thanks to smart writing and a tone that didn’t talk down to its audience. This film has a similar tendency not to talk down to the viewer and this was actually surprising because at its core, SAFFTEOTW is about the essential fallacy of the mostly male fantasy of ‘the one who got away’ and the way it distracts everyone from what is right there in front of them. The grass is always greener but it may not be and you better be damn sure because the end could come when you least expect it.
There are moments where what Carell’s character is thinking is all said through a look and a lack of dialogue which was simply brilliant to see in a film that came out at the height of summer. The subtle tones of the screenplay are well observed and carried through perfectly without a heavy-handed delivery that could have ruined things in lesser skilled hands. The delivery of a letter is a pivotal moment where we never learn what is in the letter but we suspect we might and suddenly there are stakes, what seemed light and breezy for the first half suddenly gains a whole new level of investment that was only hinted at in the chemistry between Keira Knightley and Carell.
Keira Knightley is someone who people seem keen to rake over the coals but she keeps pulling great performances out of the bag and this film sees her do the cliché manic pixie dream girl to perfection in what is perhaps her most likeable role to date. Carell is also seemingly the most likeable and solid actor since Tom Hanks except the world has yet to notice. In addition to the top work by the stars, Rob Corrdry, Martin Sheen, Patton Oswalt and others all pop up in pivotal roles and make their roles sing. Speaking of singing, the soundtrack is perfect, full of songs you would expect to hear on repeat in the final days of existence.
Seeking a Friend for the End of The World is one of the best written and most moving films for a while that not many people paid attention too. I can only hope that when the end comes it as well written and as moving as this.
[Rating:4.5/5]
