Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is one of the more pleasant surprises I've had at a movie in a long time. The premise is simple, a 70-mile-wide asteroid is going to hit Earth in three weeks, some panic, others riot, and others just live life hard and fast like they always wanted. It's in this world where we find Steve Carell, in a surprisingly soulful and straightforward performance as Dodge, whose wife just left him. Dodge decides to try and find his high school sweetheart -- the one that got away -- before the world ends, all with the help of his optimistic neighbor, Penny, played with genuine sweetness by Keira Knightley. The film is charming at times, and dramatically fascinating at others. The balance between the dark comedy and the drama is fairly well-played by writer/director Lorene Scafaria. While some of the funny bits, such as Dodge and Penny stopping in at a restaurant called Friendly's, tire fairly fast -- I mean, we get it, people are acting on their inner impulses knowing the world is going to end -- the core of this story, the relationship between Penny and Dodge, is perfectly executed. Honestly, any minor bumps in the journey of these two characters cannot deter from the real core of the film, and that is loneliness and the need for companionship.
I give
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World a B
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