So here we sit at the end of the world. And the only thing to keep me company is Steve Carell. Oh, how glorious. I think I've had nightmares of a similar leitmotif. There has been exactly one - ONE - movie that I've found him funny, or even decent in, and that movie was "Anchorman." I will admit that his character of Brick Tamland is the stuff of legend, but for the love of criminy can the man please just get off the whole "awkward equals hilarious" thing?
Comedy is subjective for everyone, that's true. If you are a fan of things like "Seinfeld," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "The Office" or any of the other number of "cringe comedies" out there, then more power to you. Good on ya. Personally I find that particular style of comedy insufferable and boring. But that seems to be Steve Carell's brand of humor now, and for a guy I never found to be that funny in the first place, this can only go downhill from here for me.
Behold. He is unable to filter his thoughts. This makes him say things one wouldn't usually say. Commence laughter.
So what better setting for an awkward non-comedy than the end of the world, am I right? I can't think of a funnier joke to piledrive into the ground over and over and over again like a hammer on an anvil than "Hey! We're all going to die! Isn't that hysterical?!"
HA HA. HA HA HA. HA. >:[
Oh wait. No, it isn't.
Everybody on the face of the Earth dying is not a funny scenario. It's horrifying. Watching a man contemplate all he's missed out on in life is not funny. It's reflective of nearly everyone's regrets and missed opportunities, and it makes me sad. Watching someone having to tearfully say goodbye to their family across the sea that they will never see again over the phone, while finding out she's a new aunt of a child she'll never meet and whose life will only be a week long is not funny. It's heartbreaking like a punch to the soul. Watching a person abandon their dog to a passed-out stranger leaving only a note that says "Sorry" is not funny. It's enough to make me want to punch something in rage and depression.
I swear to everything holy I almost stopped the movie at this point. I wanted to cry.
But the thing that makes me angry isn't the fact that it's about the end of the world. Truthfully, that doesn't bother me. Hell, one of the best movies I saw in 2009 was "The Road," a post-apocalyptic movie so bleak that it could have used dead kittens as Christmas ornaments and it would have lightened the mood. So depressing films I'm okay with.
In fact I'd call the last 15 minutes or so of the film downright poetic. The last shot of the film is actually quite beautiful as (spoiler alert) the world does actually end, and we see Steve Carell's last moment on Earth as he looks upon Keira Knightley's crying but serenely beautiful face as a blinding white light envelopes them both. Roll credits. That's a hell of an ending.
Here's the problem: None of that mattered, because you wasted our time by trying to make it into a comedy.
Let's forget for a minute that "Seeking a Friend For The End of The World" wasn't actually funny at any point. That's a trivial bit of minutiae. The problem is that they tried in the first place. And while it's true that comedy in its basic form should know no bounds, and that nothing should be off limits, that does not mean that everything will work when you try and make a comedy out of it. Penguins don't fly, Mars has two moons, Republicans don't like poor people, and everyone on the face of the planet dying is not funny. These are facts of life. I'm sorry comedy, but there are certain battles that you can't win, and aren't worth fighting.
Here we have Steve Carell doing a spot-on impression on myself while watching this film. Only minus the gun to my head.
So what's the answer to this troubling misstep? Well that's easy. Make it a drama. If "Seeking a Friend For The End of The World" had bypassed all the pathetic attempts at humor, all of which basically boiled down to "None of this matters because we're all dead," and actually made a story about a man dealing with the imminent end of his and everyone else's lives, then that could have been a powerful but strangely pointless study into "Ye Olde Humane Condition." Pointless, but powerful none the less.
Instead we got Steve Carell telling his Mexican cleaning lady that she doesn't have to clean the apartment anymore, since they're all going to die. But she keeps showing up since Mexicans are diligent in their professions. And she reminds him he needs more Windex. Or "Windows" as she calls it since, you know, Mexican.
Instead we got Keira Knightley ditching her boyfriend to the tender mercies of a rioting mob since he was being annoying and paranoid. And then later she starts crying about how scared she is of abandonment. Since you know, consistency.
Instead we have freaking William Peterson (the original Will Graham from "Manhunter") being a truck driver who apparently has hired people to kill him for some reason, which makes no sense because 1) the world is ending in a week and 2) he has cancer but has 3 months to live, which gives him a chuckle since he "lucked out" on that. And then he gets shot as he's sitting in the truck in a surprise bit of violence which leads to nothing except his death. Since that's funny.
Instead we have Steve Carell going to work as they divvy out wild promotions to anyone who wants it since it doesn't matter anyway since they're all going to die, and there's plenty of positions available since people have been throwing themselves off the roof. All this while one of the women in the room weeps hysterically. Since you know, that's just good comedy right there.
Oh, and don't forget your favorite FM station will still be bringing you all your favorite rock hits up to the end. HA HA HA.
There was exactly one (1) funny joke in the entire movie. A single line that was said that made me chuckle just a little bit. And it's a rape joke. I'm not even kidding with that. That's the funniest bit of the film. I would rant about how much that says about the rest of it, but I think that statement kind of speaks for itself.
Even though the comedy fails on nearly every level, it's impossible to watch "Seeking a Friend For The End of The World" without being aware of it. And it's that annoying prevalence of the film attempting to pander to a wider audience of Steve Carell fans by awkwardly cramming in this utterly black non-humor, since evidently a comedian in a dramatic role is unthinkable and unmarketable, that kills any impact the drama may have had. Instead it comes off as insulting because it doesn't think I can handle a sad movie, which is what this is. It's sad. Get over it, treat us like adults who are watching this already R rated film, and don't try to make it something it's not.
I actually have a sneaking suspicion that this film was originally not meant to be a comedy at all. Well, it's still not, but you know what I mean. I really think that it was meant to be a serious look at what people would do at the end of the world, but when Steve Carell was cast they had to try and make with the funny ha-ha.
You want to know how I know this? Because a true comedy would never be so dumb nor pretentious as to give the main character, a man who is constantly running away from his problems, a name like "Dodge." You heard me. His name...is Dodge. He hides from his problems. GET IT!?!?!
"You can't run from this one, Dodge." <= (Actual quote from the film.)
Oh shut up, "Seeking a Friend For The End of The World." You were supposed to be an artsy tear-jerker and got hijacked by unfunny comedy. I probably wouldn't have liked you even if you had found the dignity to take yourself seriously, but I would at least have respected you a bit more.
You have any idea how much of this I had to watch to feel happiness again?
THE BOTTOM LINE - I hated this movie. I hated it because it was trying to be something it wasn't capable of being: Funny. It was one of the single most depressing movies I've ever seen in my life, I felt like slitting my wrists after it was done, and I can't in good conscious recommend anyone else experience it. Had it been serious, I would have still disliked it, but I would have praised its power. But as it is, it's embarrassing just how utterly hard the comedic premise face-planted, making the damn thing unwatchable.
No comments:
Post a Comment