Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - Dir. Lorene Scafaria (2012)

An apocalyptic love story is unique, but not an entirely new concept. There was 1988's Miracle Mile with Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham searching for one another in a chaotic Los Angeles under the threat of impending nuclear war. You could also count Don McKellar's Last Night, about intersecting lives in Toronto on their very last night on Earth. Written and directed by Lorene Scafaria (Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist), Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is a bit more bright and hopeful or as bright and hopeful as a movie can be when it's about Armageddon. Let's just say it's on the opposite spectrum of Lars von Trier's Melancholia.

Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck won't be saving anyone. The film opens with the dour announcement that a cataclysmic asteroid is about to collide with Earth and a last-ditch effort by NASA to divert it has failed. Insurance salesman Dodge Petersen (Steve Carell) gets another shock when his wife, Linda (played by Carell's real-life spouse Nancy) suddenly exits the car and runs off into the night without a word. Dodge stumbles into a numb daze while his friends throw wild parties. Eventually, he forms a friendship with Penny (Keira Knightley), the free-spirited girl next door. It turns out that Penny has been holding on to some of Dodge's mail for months, including a letter from an old flame.

As riots break out across the city, Penny agrees to help Dodge find his former high school sweetheart in exchange for getting her to England to be with her family. Accompanied by a scruffy little dog named Sorry, they embark on an epic road trip where they encounter an assortment of eccentric characters such as a trucker (William Peterson) who has decided to die via hired assassin and a military man (Derek Luke) fully stocked and prepared for the apocalypse.

It's a safe bet that no matter what Dodge and Penny will wind up together. The A-story may be a tad predicable, but Carell and Knightley make for a winning couple. They're likeable enough that you root for them on their cross-country adventure. Just as he's done in Little Miss Sunshine and Dan in Real Life, Carell gives an understated performance that mixes pathos with a dry wit. Knightley brings warmth to the role of Penny. Some critics have described her as the dreaded 'manic pixie dream girl,' perhaps because she totes around a collection of vinyl records like a safety blanket. Thankfully, Penny does not display the typical quirks of the archetype though she does resemble a pixie with her short hair and petite frame.

In addition to the leads, Scafaria has assembled a wonderful supporting cast that includes Rob Corddry, Connie Britton, Patton Oswalt, Melanie Lynskey, and Amy Schumer as Dodge's party pals. There's also Adam Brody as Penny's dim-witted musician boyfriend and Martin Sheen in an emotional turn as Dodge's estranged father. Gillian Jacobs and T.J. Miller cameo as the wait staff of a TGIFriday's type establishment that has descended into full-blown hedonism. But, some of the funniest scenes involve Dodge and his maid (Tonita Castro), who seems absolutely oblivious to the fact that all life on Earth is about to be wiped out.

Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back, world is destroyed by massive rocks from outer space. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is a breezy and bittersweet romantic comedy bolstered by some terrific performances.

Rating: *** (*****)

Young Adult

Young Adult - Dir. Jason Reitman (2011)

Director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody shot to prominence when they first teamed up for the teen pregnancy comedy Juno. Though Reitman had already made his feature film debut with Thank You For Smoking, Juno was undoubtedly his biggest success. It was Cody's first produced screenplay for which she won the Academy Award. Reitman followed it up with the superior dramedy Up in the Air while Cody unfurled the critically reviled horror-comedy Jennifer's Body. Reitman and Cody put the band back together for Young Adult, a film that is the absolute antithesis of Juno.

Where Juno was a snappy and breezy comedy about a teen more mature than some of the adults around her. Young Adult is a darkly humorous tale of an adult trapped in a self-destructive, adolescent mindset.

Charlize Theron plays it to the hilt as Mavis Gary, a ghost writer for a teen lit series that serves as an obvious nod to Cody's next project, an adaptation of Sweet Valley High. She lives in a high rise apartment in Minneapolis where she spends much of her time chugging Diet Coke out of a 2-liter bottle, keeping up with the Kardashians on TV, and struggling to finish her latest book.

One day, she receives an email from the wife of her high school boyfriend announcing the arrival of their new baby. In her twisted mind, Mavis sees this as a challenge and returns to her small hometown of Mercury to rescue her ex from his marital prison. Said beau is Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson), who certainly seems happy in the role of husband and father. Nevertheless, nothing will deter Mavis from her mission, not even the common sense advice of another former classmate, Matt Freehauf (a perfectly cast Patton Oswalt).

They meet in a bar and it takes a while for Mavis to jog her memory, despite the fact that Matt's locker was right next to hers. Nicknamed by Mavis as the "hate crime guy," Matt was the victim of a brutal beating by the jocks, who were under the mistaken belief that he was gay. The attack has left him with a permanent limp. Much like Mavis, he doesn't have much of a life. He lives with his sister, Sandra (Collette Wolfe), where he customizes action figures and brews homemade bourbon he calls the "Mos Eisley Special Reserve."

Young Adult shatters the unwritten rule of Hollywood that the protagonist must be sympathetic and likable. One character aptly describes her as a "psychotic prom queen bitch." She is the proverbial mean girl, who has returned to make life hell for everyone around her. Mavis is thoroughly self-centered and borderline delusional. She avoids her parents and isn't particularly nice to Matt, the one person who seems to tolerate being in her presence. The only other friend she has is her little Pomeranian, Dolce, and Mavis winds up ignoring him too.

The relationship between Mavis and Matt could hardly be categorized as a friendship. They more or less fall into a co-dependent symbiosis. Deep down inside Matt still fawns over Mavis and it's obvious he gets a kick over finally gaining the notice of the popular girl. For Mavis, she likes the attention and, perhaps, she sees in him someone just as broken as she is.

Though blonde and statuesque, Mavis is a white hot mess in a Hello Kitty t-shirt and proof positive that beauty is only skin deep. Theron doesn't need the extra weight or make-up to bring out the ugly in Mavis the way she did for Aileen Wuornos in Monster. She's almost a pitiable person and a gut wrenching revelation at the most awkward of times peels back the layers in her complex personality. It's at this point that Young Adult cleverly goes against conventions. Just when you think Mavis may change for the better, she has a one-on-one chat with Sandra that reinforces her narcissistic point of view. Hey, I am better than these people so fuck 'em.

Diablo Cody's dialogue isn't the hyper-stylized speech found in Juno. The writing is more subdued. The one line that is clearly Cody-esque comes when Mavis refers to a combination KFC/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut as a "KenTacoHut."

The soundtrack to Young Adult accentuates Mavis's rose colored nostalgia by utilizing a veritable smorgasbord of alternative rock hits from the early-90's. There's the Lemonheads, Dinosaur Jr., 4 Non Blondes, and Veruca Salt. Listen closely and you'll hear subtle instrumental versions of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam by Juno composer Mateo Messina. The opening credits feature a series of extreme close-ups of the inner workings of a cassette and tape player as Mavis throws in an old mixtape of Buddy's for the road trip. She listens to Teenage Fanclub's "The Concept" incessantly as the lyrics, "I didn't mean to hurt you..." repeat over and over as the movie's unofficial theme.

Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody have boldly crafted a character study of a wholly unsympathetic person, who does not grow or learn over the course of the film. Young Adult shines as a black comedy that derives humor from cringe-inducing moments and the incredible performance from Charlize Theron.

Rating: *** (*****)

Observe and Report

Observe and Report - Dir. Jody Hill (2009)


”The world has no use for another scared man. Right now, the world needs a fucking hero.”

Much like Adventureland which was released a week before, Observe and Report is advertised as something it’s not. Trading on the popularity of Seth Rogen, Observe has plenty of low-brow, raunchy humor, but it's not the wall-to-wall laugh riot the trailers make it out to be. It’s far darker than any of the Apatow or Apatow-like films. The comparison could be made that this is Seth Rogen's Cable Guy. The film is the sophomore effort from writer/director Jody Hill who inexplicably wowed a select group of Sundance festival-goers with his debut, The Foot Fist Way about an abrasive Tae Kwan Do instructor played by Danny McBride.

Seth Rogen’s Ronnie Barnhardt has a similarly abrasive attitude sometimes hidden behind a mask of geniality. Barnhardt is a mall cop, but he’s not quite as likeable as previous Rogen characters and he’s certainly nothing like Paul Blart. He’s bipolar with a deep-seated vicious streak and delusions of grandeur. Ronnie has held an unrequited crush on Brandi (Anna Faris), the buxom blonde behind the make-up counter. A serial flasher begins turning the mall into his own personal playground by exposing himself to unsuspecting women. When Brandi becomes his latest victim, he vows to bring the pervert to justice. This puts him at odds with Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta), the officer assigned to the case. Harrison becomes even more exasperated when Ronnie makes it known that he intends to join the police force. Throughout the film, Ronnie battles his own personal demons just as he battles teenage skateboarders.

Observe and Report answers the question of what Taxi Driver would have been like if Scorsese made it into a comedy. Ronnie Barnhardt is a disturbed individual and walks that thin line between being funny and repulsive. It's only through the sheer force of personality that Rogen keeps him from becoming completely unsympathetic. The first half of the film belie the darker corners in which it delves in the latter half. Jody Hill's script is uneven. At times, it's sharp and outrageous. Yet, Hill fails to curb his baser impulses and the film just goes too far, particularly in the end.

Rogen's best scenes really are when he's attempting to keep things more lighthearted. He trades F you's with a Middle Eastern vendor (Aziz Ansari) who he derisively calls Saddam. Anna Faris is perfectly suited for the shallow bimbo role and proves again she's one of the most talented female comics today. The real surprise comes from Michael Pena who is known more for dramatic fare such as Crash and World Trade Center. Here, Pena dons a mop top and lisp to play Ronnie's second-in-command Dennis.

Rating: ** 1/2