#10
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
I will be making a list of my most disappointing films of the year as well and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World will be pulling double duty. I was intrigued by writer/director Lorene Scafaria‘s attempt to turn the idea of an asteroid coming to destroy the Earth into a romantic-comedy. It seemed a dry wit could have a lot of fun playing in that world, but boy did it flounder right out of the gate with Steve Carell and Keira Knightley playing two characters I couldn’t care in the least if they lived or died. He’s a cold fish, and she’s got an oh-so-charming fondness for the history of the record player. Ugh.
REVIEW SNIPPET: (read the full review here)
None of the performances were particularly intriguing either. We’ve seen Carell mope before, feeling mistreated and lost, and I’d argue Knightley brought a maturity level closer to that of a high schooler than the adult with her character. No part of this film rung true to me as much as everyone seemed to be conjured out of thin air. Given the intensity of the circumstances I guess I was merely supposed to accept this is how these people would be acting. I couldn’t do it.
This film just sort of sits there, going through the motions, hitting its minor plot points, hoping you’re along for the ride, but it results in a missed opportunity.
