Seeking A Friend At The End Of The World (2012)

Starring:
-Steve Carell as Dodge
-Keira Knightley as Penny
-Martin Sheen as Frank
-Patton Oswalt as Roache

I'll never understand why movies always show people looting at the end of the world. If the world's about to completely end, who cares how much money or stuff you have? Of course people would probably loot in real life, as people are generally stupid in real life.

That's one thing that can be guaranteed with this movie: the world is definitely ending. It shows how various people are dealing with it. While I personally don't know what I would choose, some of them did make sense. There are the people living in excess, having sex and doing whatever drugs they can get their hands on. There are the people who are continuing to live their normal lives. There are those who are doing things they've always wanted to do. Then there's Dodge and Penny, who are trying to contact people they love before everything comes crashing down.

This is a very sweet movie that focuses not on the global event, but the people affected by it. The end of the world is merely background noise to these two people finding each other and bonding. In any other situation they may have never had more than a few glances, if that. But as the film points out, this situation makes everyone the same. There is no reason to worry about whatever differences you may have.

If you're just a fan of Steve Carell, you'll like him here. I tried thinking of a movie where I didn't enjoy Carell and couldn't do it. Even in something awful, like Evan Almighty, I enjoyed his performance. He has that "every man" quality that so many actors try to pull off and so few are able to succeed at. Carell is very easy to relate to and as a result, very enjoyable. Even Keira Knightley, who I'm not a fan of, grew on me as the film progressed. I never would have guessed that these two people would have chemistry, but I suppose that's the point of the movie.

It seems this will be yet another movie I'm at war with the critics over. Every year I latch onto one film that I love and every other mainstream critic decides, for one reason or another, to hate. At least Roger Ebert is on my side this time. When The Lovely Bones came out, he decided he didn't like it.

If you're a romantic, you'll love this. If you're not a romantic, you'll probably still enjoy it. It's one of those movies that could be morose and depressing. Instead, it takes a light-hearted tone. It does this not to mock the gravity of the situation but to point out that life is worth living, no matter how few moments you have to live it.

Score: 8.5