Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Interesting concept but once the story plays out it isn't really all that much. But it is an entertaining bit.

The premise is that in the near future we spot an asteroid heading towards Earth, big enough that if it hits us then it will be the end of humanity as we know it. So a mission has been sent to ostensibly destroy it or divert it, to save the Earth.

Steve Carell is Dodge and he and his wife are sitting in their car, listening to a news report that sadly the mission has failed, there was a fire, the spaceship was destroyed, all were lost. In 21 days the asteroid will hit, there is nothing that can be done.

So with that as a set-up the movie examines how people react to that news, knowing they have exactly 3 weeks to live then it will be all over. Naturally it touches on some of the fringe behavior, guys who want to use their remaining time to have as much sex as possible, or party with alcohol and drugs, or just go through the streets looking and wreaking havoc. At a minimum, most quit going to work, gasoline runs short, commercial airlines quit flying.

I had difficulty discerning if this was intended as a dark comedy. For example, a TV news man would report, but end the session by saying they would continue to play their music programming. As if that mattered to anyone.

But Dodge is different. As soon as the bad news came, his wife got out of the car and fled. He realized quickly she had no love for him. As he tried to make sense of everything, he met a younger woman, Keira Knightley as Penny , an unstable sort from England, but wanted to get back and see her parents one more time. Dodge decided to help her. And that become "the rest of the movie." When it was over it was pleasant enough entertainment, maybe I though a bit about what I would do in a similar predicament, but ultimately it was a love story with a quite different catalyst.

SPOILERS: Dodge decided he would see if he could get to his estranged dad, a pilot, to fly Penny home. In the process his dad was able to say "I'm sorry" for everything that happened over the years. And, in a "Casablanca moment" Dodge put a sleeping Penny on the small plane, and right before he closed the door whispered to her "the love of my life." But a little later, when Dodge is back home, Penny shows up. She had asked that they return, she would rather be with Dodge at the end. As they lay in bed, we hear big rumblings, then everything goes dark.