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FILM DETAILS

Certificate 12A

Cast Steve Carell Keira Knightley.

Directors Lorene Scafaria.

Screenwriters Lorene Scafaria.

Running Time 95 minutes

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Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World
Crazy stupid meteor

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Plot
With an asteroid about to obliterate the Earth, jilted schlub Dodge (Carell) and his British next-door neighbour Penny (Knightley) embark on a mutually beneficial road trip: he will get her to a plane so she can return to family in Blighty; in return, she will help him track down Olivia, the real love of his life.

Review
Whether the answer is a) spend time with loved ones, b) embark on a non-stop hedonistic odyssey, c) tick the top five things off your bucket list or d) re-arrange your DVD collection alphabetically (Air Bud to Zulu Dawn), the question of how you would spend the last significant days of your life if you knew the world was going to end is ripe with philosophical, dramatic, blackly humorous emotional possibilities. Focusing on how two mismatched people figure out a response to global annihilation, Lorene Scafaria’s directorial debut is a likable high-end indie riposte to those duelling asteroid films of the late ’90s. Scafaria is best known for adapting 2008’s immensely likable Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist and this film shares a lot of that flick’s sense of characters gradually getting to know each other with generosity, offbeat wit and a protean soundtrack (The Beach Boys to Wang Chung, PM Dawn to Scott Walker). Only this time, there is added encroaching apocalypse.

Perhaps an unlikely place for the start of a comedy, SAFFTEOTW picks up where the second act of Deep Impact ends: the space shuttle Deliverance has failed in its attempts to destroy 70 mile-wide asteroid Mathilda and the hunk of space rock will undoubtedly flatten the Earth in three weeks. A strong economical opening does a good job of sketching the diversity of reactions both personal and public (the traffic reporter hands back to the studio with, “We’re fucked, Bob”), the early stretch peppered with gallows humour and one genuine shock that feels fresh and believable.

Yet, once a riot throws Steve Carell’s Dodge and Keira Knightley’s Penny together, we are thrown into an episodic, familiar-feeling road trip with the mismatched pair running into a new quirky character — stand-outs are William Petersen’s dying trucker who has hired a hit man to put him out of his misery and Derek Luke as Penny’s crazy ex who is building a titanium bunker to start a new world order — around every reel change. There is some funny stuff here, especially in the margins — a crazy with a ‘The End Is Near’ sandwich board who feels vindicated — but the film is better on the growing companionship between Dodge and Penny.

The pairing of an A-list funny-man and a plummy English sort in a quirky indie-com suggests the Carrey-Winslet pairing of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. Carell does a more nuanced than usual take on his likable loser persona (check him in the opening scene abandoned by his wife listening to Wouldn’t It Be Nice), playing down the cliché and sentiment in the filling-more-life-in-his-last-days-than-he-had-in-the-previous-50-years scenario. Meanwhile, Knightley’s Penny seems to be cut from the same UK manic-pixie dreamgirl cloth as Winslet’s Clementine. She smokes spliffs, can sleep through anything and, in one of the film’s nicest scenes, waxes lyrical about the joys of vinyl. As an actress, Knightley doesn’t have funny bones in the same way as, say Frances McDormand, but she registers laugh-out-loud moments (“I won’t steal anything if you won’t kill me”) and comes into her own in a low-key emotional phone home to her family.

Scafaria does little that is interesting with her filmmaking tool box, happy for the characters, their friendship and predicament to take centre stage. As the film moves towards its inescapably downbeat finale, she finds some balance without copping out. It might be the end of the world as we know it. But you’ll feel fine.

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Average user rating for Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

Surprised at the hate...

I guess you have to be able to get by Knightley's "movie kookie" role - I could, so found it that most wonderful escapist combo of "Funny & Touching" :) Here's to bumping up the star average... ... More

Posted by MrkyMrk at 11:20, 29 November 2012 | Report This Post

Three stars! I'm amazed. Two stars is generous. ... More

Posted by theoriginalcynic at 19:01, 21 November 2012 | Report This Post

And I feel fine...

Fine being the operative word. This film is fine: quite interesting, quite funny, quite good, not the worst, not the best. If it is the worst film you have seen in years, you're doing quite well! ... More

Posted by philshepp at 21:56, 16 November 2012 | Report This Post

Seeking Extra Stars For The End Of My Review...

"(“I won’t steal anything if you won’t kill me”)" I believe the word was 'rape' not 'kill'. Anyway, this was so-so, with one or two charming moments, although I expected a more punchy, emotional ending. However, I did have this recommended to me by a (male) cry baby film critic who apparently burst into tears during the finale. Each to their own. ... More

Posted by mapletreewizard at 20:56, 09 November 2012 | Report This Post

A seventy mile-wide asteroid named Matilda is on a collision course with Earth and a last ditch effort to destroy it has failed. The world only has three weeks until impact, at which time all of humanity will be wiped out. Dodge, an insurance salesman, has just had his wife commit suicide. All over, people react in varying ways, from drugs to promiscuity to rioting. Dodge unsuccessfully tries to kill himself with window cleaner and befriends his neighbour Penny who has just kicked her boyfri... More

Posted by Dr Lenera at 20:47, 16 July 2012 | Report This Post

Only Reason i when to see this movie was my best friend . ask me go with her. Only good thing in this Movie is keira Knightley. Steve Carell is wong actor for this part. ... More

Posted by soulfood at 23:03, 14 July 2012 | Report This Post

Wonderful film it is funny how everyone is reacting to Armageddon here but Dodge is already depressed but he meets penny and what happens between them is what I would call romantic and beautiful and really very feel good. Also a highlight here is scene between Carrel and Martin Sheen. This film is just great writing and and has a fantastic soundtrack which I'm defo buying, and is a wonderful feel good and life affirming loved it to bits. ... More

Posted by Bighousewill at 16:17, 14 July 2012 | Report This Post

seeking a friend for the end of the world

Sorry found this film to be total drivel , Knightley's overacting was achingly embarrassing , Carrell was excellent and his naturalism really made knightley's poor performance even more painful to watch. The entire film lacked any sense of reality there was no atmosphere of any kind at all, the script was poor unfunny and predictable a dire combination i'm afraid. ... More

Posted by mira11 at 21:42, 13 July 2012 | Report This Post

Worst film I've seen in YEARS!!

You can't go wrong with the premise.. unless you do it like it's done in this film!! Unlikeable and annoying characters. No pace, no impetus. Hello? the world's about to end??!! Instead it just potters from one pointless scene to the next.. It's not funny. It's not romantic. There's NO drama!! I had to restrain myself from getting up and walking out!! Rubbish!! ... More

Posted by PlanetNish_dotcom at 22:28, 02 July 2012 | Report This Post

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