Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

In Lorene Scafaria's bittersweet and charming apocalyptic love story, the title pretty much says it all. As the film opens, the Earth has only three weeks until it is struck by a massive asteroid that the media has dubbed "Matilda", which will end all life on the planet. Two very different and lonely people connect during the world's final moments, and find a strong bond with each other. It's really quite beautiful in its simplicity. But what interested me just as much is when the movie focused on how the rest of the world was handling this crisis.

Since this is a road trip movie, our heroes are likely to encounter people from different walks of life. This is expected in the genre. The twist that this screenplay gives us is that the people they encounter are all dealing with the news of their imminent deaths in different ways. There are those who do their best to ignore the dire warnings, and lead a normal life. There's a group of businessmen who have decided to throw off their suits and work ties, and completely give in to every decadent desire they've ever had. There's a suicidal truck driver who found out he only had a few months left to live right around the time he found out about the world ending, and he refuses to wait out the clock either way. And then there is the wait staff who work at a family restaurant and bar who, alongside still serving up burger baskets and fries, have also turned the restaurant into a non-stop sex orgy.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World made me think of just how I, or people I know, would handle or live out their remaining moments in such a situation. It also drew me in to its central plot, concerning a lonely man named Dodge (Steve Carell), who is left to reflect on the mistakes of his life when his wife leaves him to be with another man right when the doomsday announcement is made. His chief regret is letting his high school sweetheart get away all those years ago. Just down the hall from his apartment lives a woman named Penny (Keira Knightley), who is lonely for different reasons. She misses her family back home in England, and regrets that she didn't spend enough time with them. And now that all commercial air travel has ceased due to the impending destruction of the Earth, she fears that she'll never get to see them again.

The two have lived down the hall from each other for years, but hardly spoken to each other. Funny how something like the apocalypse can bring two people together. They start talking, and realize that they can help each other. She has a car, and can drive him to track down his love from long ago. Likewise, he knows somebody with a private plane that could get her back home to her family. They hit the road together (along with a cute little abandoned dog whom Dodge ended up adopting), and what follows is a fairly conventional road trip and romantic comedy plot with a major difference. Yes, they meet a lot of colorful characters on their journey. And it's certainly no surprise that the two will grow closer together during their journey. We expect this. What sets this movie apart is the impending sense of doom that is forever in the back of the minds of the characters, as well as the audience.

Making her directorial debut, Lorene Scafaria (who previously wrote the script to the underrated Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist) has given us a melancholy twist on some of Hollywood's most reliable conventions. Her screenplay hits all the notes you'd expect, but does so with a certain sadness and honesty that I, for one, did not expect. I was also surprised by the human quality of the script. This is not a movie built around coincidences or convoluted plotting. Instead, we're simply watching Dodge and Penny grow closer, as the world around them falls apart. That's a big part as to why both Carell and Knightley are so good, and have such great chemistry together. The movie gives their characters plenty of time to develop and grow.

What fascinated me is how the movie does not really develop their relationship into a full-fledged romance, although we get the picture that one could easily develop if there were time. I have already spoken to one person who was disappointed by this fact. I had to remind them of the word "Friend" in the title. The movie deals with the friendship between Dodge and Penny, and how it probably could have built to something much more in a different circumstance. I guess it's kind of tragic if you think about it, but the movie wisely does not hit us over the head with this notion. This is a melancholy, but not a depressing movie. It has plenty of moments of dark satire to lighten the mood, and our heroes are really just trying to make the most out of the time they have left. It's admirable in a way. While some people choose to riot in the street or give in to sin, Dodge, Penny, and a select few others choose to make the time they have left happy, since they've been unhappy for so long.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is a thought-provoking and oddly charming movie. I also have a feeling that it will stick with me for a while after seeing it. The film left me feeling kind of funny when it was over. I was a mix of emotions - happy, a little sad, but mostly I felt the joy I usually feel when I walk out of a satisfying film. That, right there, is the best recommendation that I can give.

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