Precious final road trip

Seeking a Friend For the End of the World (2012)
Certified: 16
Duration: 101 minutes
Directed by: Lorene Scafaria
Starring: Steve Carell, Keira Knightley, William Petersen, Melanie Lynskey, Adam Brody, Tonita Castro, Derek Luke, Connie Britton, Patton Oswalt, Rob Corddry, Martin Sheen
KRS release

For anyone selling life insurance, news of an asteroid on a collision path with earth would inevitably enough mean a change in career.

Actually it is not about the end of the world but rather about the relationships that are struck...- Johan Galea

Steve Carell plays Dodge, an insurance salesman whose life is turned upside down when news is released that a 112-kilometre-wide asteroid will hit our planet in three weeks’ time and his wife leaves in panic.

The populace reacts to the news in diverse ways: there is looting in the cities, mass baptisms and hedonistic parties.

Dodge ends up taking care of a dog which he ties to his feet. That is when he meets neighbour Penny (Keira Knightley), a flighty girl who is his total opposite and convinces him to go on a road trip to meet up with the love of his life, a high-school sweetheart.

On the way she will try to find the means to get back to her family.

During their journey they visit a take-away restaurant whose staff is overly friendly and meet a man who has hired a contract killer to extinguish his life and an ex-lover of Penny who is a survivalist.

Seeking A Friend For the End of the World marks the directorial debut of actress, scriptwriter and singer Lorene Scafaria.

Her film is one of the most unusual romantic comedies ever as it intermixes with the end of the world/apocalypse genre.

The result is an interesting but half-baked movie, one that is a tad on the depressing side.

Actually it is not about the end of the world but rather about the relationships that are struck, the lives we are saddled with and what we really want in life.

The film places its trust in protagonists Steve Carell and Keira Knightley. However, this odd pairing works only at intermittent times as the two do not share on-screen chemistry.

Ms Knightley plays the role that would have been Sandra Bullock’s up till a few years ago while Mr Carell is still playing the mature version of the 40-year-old Virgin (2005).

Good supporting turns are provided by Rob Corddry as the best friend who becomes a party animal and a hilarious Bob Stephenson as a police officer who still hands out driving tickets even though the world is about to end.

The direction seems intent on experimenting but is never brave enough to delve into the core of the material. Its script and direction are too polite in their approach and this is evidenced in the way the film handles the situations the characters are placed in during the road trip.

Well produced and glossy in its look, this whimsical film is utterly embracing in its choice of tunes from the likes of Herp Albert and The Hollies.