The Agency's Posts

'Dark Knight Rises': Christopher Nolan opens up about Bane choice: There’s nothing sentimental or soft about Gotham City, and that seems to suit....
Read More>

'Dragon Tattoo's' Rooney Mara on fans expectations: David Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" doesn't hit theaters until Dec.....
Read More>

Holiday music:All the stars and more..: The late, great Hunter S. Thompson once said, “When the going gets weird,the weird turn....
Read More>

SAG Awards: The Weinstein Co. leads the studio race: With "The Artist," "My Week With Marilyn" and "The Iron Lady,"....
Read More>

'Bridesmaids' cast learned to roll with the laughs: Bring up the year's surprise hit comedy "Bridesmaids" and most moviegoers think....
Read More>

The Hulk. The Avengers. Discuss..: The Hulk will appear in his third feature film next year whenOscar-nominatedactor Mark....
Read More>

Really? The Claim: Coffee Can Prevent Some Medications From Working: THE FACTS For many Americans, the thought of a morning without coffee is unbearable. More....
Read More>

Capturing a Tradition, Blow by Blow: THE big, bald man at the end of the bar extended a huge hand and introduced himself as the....
Read More>

Live review: Sting at the Wiltern: Stinghas long been a card-carrying member of rock’s aristocracy, so even turning up....
Read More>

Album review: Amy Winehouse's 'Lioness': “Why did God take the homie? I can’t stand it,” raps Nas on “Like....
Read More>

Grammy nominations concert on CBS tries to find its rhythm: 'Grammy Nominations Concert Live,' in its fourth year, airs Wednesday on CBS with Lady Gaga,....
Read More>

Photographer Lindsay McCrum documents 'Chicks With Guns': The title "Chicks with Guns" evokes visions of Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane or a....
Read More>
Apocalypse pretty soon, romantic yearnings now in 'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World'
Posted on: 06/27/12
Share/Save/Bookmark


So much of the drama we respond to, from the heart, depicts ordinary flawed women and men navigating serious adversity or breaking through a wall of grief. And they are improved; their lives, their futures, are more connected and whole than before.

These stories are extremely difficult to write, and act, and direct, and sell to a summer crowd more interested in something with either zebras or lasers. For one thing, there's a vaguely icky pitfall: When things aren't quite right with the tone or the scale of the story, you end up with "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," which inadvertently processed the events of Sept. 11, 2001, as a coy self-improvement exercise for a preteen survivor.

"Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,"written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Lorene Scafaria, struggles with similar implications, in a tale set in our planet's final weeks (an asteroid's about to hit). If the characters played, gamely and well, by Steve Carell and Keira Knightley find each other in such a scenario, surely that's a reasonable trade-off. True love. Total extinction. Right?

Scafaria's intention, I think, was different: to pose to the audience the simplest of all questions. What would you do in such a dire situation, with 21 days left on the clock? Set sort of in the present but a little bit in the future, "Seeking a Friend" finds insurance salesman Dodge (Carell) going through his paces even after the asteroid's imminent arrival has been confirmed. He works the phones in his increasingly desolate office building, offering the "Armageddon package" to policyholders. His wife, played in a brief bit by Carell's real-life spouse, Nancy Carell, takes the end-of-the-world opportunity to leave Dodge cold.

In the final weeks, the world goes crazy. Some kill themselves, or turn their social lives into a desperate last-chance orgy. (Rob Corddry and Connie Britton play Dodge's best friends, ready to par-tay.) Dodge at first settles, in his numbed state, for sliding into oblivion right along with Earth. Then he finds a note from his high school sweetheart, the one who got away, and sets into motion a plan to find her again. Dodge also meets neighbor Penny (Knightley), homesick for her parents back in England and stuck in a flat-lining relationship. Time for a change.

Thus begins the road trip for Dodge and Penny. The highlight, for us, at least, is a stop at a T.G.I. Friday's-like chain restaurant called Friendsy's, where the hugs never stop and Scafaria's sense of humor flowers into a satisfying set piece. Scafaria wrote the script for the droll romantic odyssey (nonapocalyptic division) "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist," and she's clever; she knows how to spin variations on a theme of longing. Her debut directorial assignment has all sorts of polish and assurance.

What it doesn't have is a way of making sense of its comic and dramatic strains, together, in the same movie. Carell and Knightley work hard to bring life and truth to each stage of a dawning friendship. By the end, though, Dodge and Penny have had one too many affirming encounters that feel engineered, not lived.

mjphillips@tribune.com


 
COMMENTS
Be the first to post a comment!


Post A Comment:




  • It's 2020! Start booking roles in commercials, fashion, films, theater and more with The Agency Online!

  • NEW WORKSHOP with Barbara Barna & Sean De Simone!

    Hi Everyone and Happy Summer! Sean at Sean De Simone casting and Barbara Barna are teaming up for a super informative and fun Hosting for Home Shopping workshop. A great opportunity for established or experienced TV Hosts and Experts interested in learning how to get noticed and how to get in....
  • MASTERCLASS W. Robin Carus & David John Madore

    A Special Offer for the Agency Community, from one of our favorite NYC Casting Directors! EMAIL FacetheMusicWithUs@gmail.com Or Eventbrite To Sign Up! Class Size is Limited.
  • Don't Fall Into The Comparison Trap

    Hi Everyone! As the second installment in an ongoing series of features by the Agency's amazing community, here's some sage advice from our own Regina Rockensies; a humble (& awesome)veteran we've had the pleasure of working with for a long time. Have an excellent week! : ) - The Agency....
  • One Model's Agreement

    Hi Everyone! As the first piece in an ongoing series of original articles by the Agency community, here's a short reflection on some of the values of professional acting & modeling that we can all keep in mind for our next casting. Good luck on your castings &shoots this week! : ) -....




 
home       castings&news       privacy policy       terms and conditions      contact us      browser tips
Official PayPal Seal