REVIEW: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)

Despite a cumbersome title, this dramedy starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley is a pretty subtle, quiet and sometimes beautiful little movie. I didn’t even know about this thing until I saw the trailer for it before Prometheus, just two weeks before it came out. But I actually ended up liking this one better than the aforementioned sci-fi blockbuster…go figure.

Director: Lorene Scafaria

Starring: Steve Carell, Keira Knightley

Website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1307068/

This movie is an end of the world flick that doesn’t focus too much on the scientific reasons for the world’s end or even the bigger picture – it just focuses on the life of one guy (Carell) and those around him. And surprisingly, it works really well. I always like movies that do this, because it just gives a much more humanistic, natural spin on the usual kinds of stories these topics generate. The human element is the most interesting part of any movie, especially something as monumental and alien as the end of the world. I want to see the individual, common man’s dilemma in the face of Armageddon. And this movie delivers.

Seeking a Friend works because of its blend of comedy and drama. The first twenty minutes or so has some pretty standard Steve Carell styled comedy, where he’s all awkward and whatnot, but that doesn’t last long and isn’t played up to any kind of exaggerated levels. And even during those parts, there is a subtly somber sadness that enhances the comedy, playing off the fact that it’s the end of the world. The movie never quite shoves that fact in your face, but it is always there beneath the surface, the catalyst for the more personal relationship forged in the movie’s runtime. Carell actually does a good job here and conveys the sober, serious tone very well while also allowing the funny parts to shine through. The balance is well done.

Knightley gives a good performance too, as the very British and quirky female neighbor who Carell befriends in the midst of the chaotic happenings all around him. They grow close and share some very tender and also some very funny moments on screen, as is typical of these kinds of movies, but it’s all handled with delicacy and delivered with sincerity, so I like it. The seedy, desolate country atmosphere of a lot of the latter half of the film really serves to drive home how alone people really are with the impending end of the world – everyone, at the end of his or her days, is alone, and with the collective end approaching, who is left?

As such, it becomes a very poignant picture, and the effect of the movie will linger on you long after you walk out of the theater. And I think that makes it a good movie, so go see it if it has piqued your interest at all.

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REVIEW: The Hole (2001)

Director: Nick Hamm

Starring: Thora Birch, Keira Knightley, Desmond Harrington

Website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242527/

This is one of those movies I just don’t know what to say about. The Hole is a 2001 horror/thriller/mystery mutt of a movie that has actors like Keira Knightley and Desmond Harrington in it, as well as a convincing and pretty well acted lead played by Thora Birch. This is a very British movie, with lots of accents and school uniforms and foggy skies and everything, complete with an extra dose of those ultra-frilly looking old houses. Oh yeah and lots and lots of murder, sex and blood. Welcome to England!

OK, OK, just kidding. The plot revolves around a girl named Liz (Birch) who is found bloody and screaming and taken to the hospital, where she says that she and some of her friends had a third party, this guy named Martyn (Daniel Brocklebank) lock them inside an old bunker for a weekend to party and get away from their oppressive totalitarian boarding school. However things got a little too wacky and then somehow, all of them ended up dead. The only problem is that Liz can’t remember what happened. Martyn says he wasn’t even involved…so what really happened? The movie will throw you for several loops along the way to finding out.

Mostly the problems with this movie are that the characters themselves are pretty boring. They’re decently acted, but their personalities suck and they aren’t really given enough depth for you to be totally drawn into the story. The reason you keep watching is because the plot itself is interesting – although even that’s a little sketchy, honestly. They really couldn’t find a better place to sneak off and hide than an ABANDONED BUNKER? Bunch of morons. I don’t have too much sympathy for ‘em.

But mostly the plot is pretty hooky, once it gets rolling. It takes a little while to get started, and initially it’s a bit confusing, but by the end I found myself interested. Another thing this does well is that it is sufficiently bloody and sick – but not overly so, never gratuitously. It’s just right. The film provides some honestly disturbing scenes near the end that will stick with you. The atmosphere is creepy and depraved, and when the violent stuff starts happening, you know the movie means it, because it has waited this long to show them to you, patiently.

So overall I liked The Hole. It’s original – fairly – and does what it sets out to do. The writing could have been more cohesive, but if you go in with an open mind I think you’ll like it. Just don’t lock the door. You don’t want to get trapped in this film’s odd little world.

None of the pics are mine...and DISCLAIMER, I have nothing against the British.