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

As an asteroid nears Earth, a man finds himself alone after his wife leaves in a panic. He decides to take a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart. Accompanying him is a neighbor who inadvertently puts a wrench in his plan.

Director:

Lorene Scafaria

Writer:

Lorene Scafaria (screenplay)

Stars:

Steve Carell, Keira Knightley, Melanie Lynskey

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Morris	...	Radio Announcer
Steve Carell	...	Dodge
Nancy Carell	...	Linda
Mark Moses	...	Anchorman
Roger Aaron Brown	...	Alfred
Rob Huebel	...	Jeremy
Trisha Gorman	...	Crying Woman
Keira Knightley	...	Penny
Adam Brody	...	Owen
Tonita Castro	...	Elsa
Leslie Murphy	...	Amy
Connie Britton	...	Diane
Rob Corddry	...	Warren
Kasey Campbell	...	Danny
Melanie Lynskey	...	Karen

Storyline

An asteroid named "Matilda" is on a collision course towards Earth and in three weeks the world will come to an absolute end. What would you do if your life and the world were doomed? One man decides to spend his time searching for his long lost love from high school during the coming catastrophe.

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Plot Keywords:

letter | road trip | suicide | lost love | written by director | 

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Taglines:

Nice knowing you.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including sexual references, some drug use and brief violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

USA Singapore Malaysia Indonesia

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 June 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Buscando un amigo para el fin del mundo

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,822,803 (USA) (22 June 2012)

Gross:

$6,619,173 (USA) (29 June 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, Mandate Pictures, Indian Paintbrush

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The story of an "unexpected romance blossoming between two strangers while on an impromptu road trip" is familiar territory for Director Lorene Scafaria, as that was the premise of her previous screenplay, "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist".

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Goofs

Dodge's cleaning lady is at his home on the day the asteroid is going to hit. She says it's a Thursday, and yet the news announcer tells everyone to set their clocks forward that night for Daylight Saving Time - which always happens on a Saturday night/Sunday morning.

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Quotes

Penny: You're a really nice person.
Dodge: You are an awful judge of character.

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Connections

References Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

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Soundtracks

"Devil Inside"
Written by Michael Hutchence and Andrew Farriss
Performed by INXS
Courtesy of Atlantic Recordings Corp.
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing and Courtesy of Warner Chappell

User Reviews

Brace yourself for impact...

Actually I had expected this to be somewhat more of a comedy, but it turned out to be a much better experience than just another average comedy. "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" turned out to be a very beautiful and emotional movie, with just a pinch of great comedy added to spice it up.

The story is about the end of days approaching as an asteroid is bound for Earth, and will destroy the planet upon impact. Dodge (played by Steve Carell) finds himself abandoned by his wife upon this news and tries to go on with his life for the last 21 days before the world comes to end. He gets acquainted with a downstairs neighbor, Penny (played by Keira Knightley) whom he haven't talked with for the past 3 years of living in the same apartment building. These two very different spirits end up on a road trip together to get Dodge to his high school girlfriend and get Penny aboard an airplane for Great Britain. Their journey proves to be more than life changing.

The storyline for "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" was really great, and bizarre wonderful in a weird way. There is this whole gloomy downtrodden feel to it as people are trying to cope with coming to terms with life ending within 3 weeks. But at the same time, there is such a strong emotional journey taking place as we follow Dodge and Penny on their path to their destinations. The movie is driven by great characters and by superb acting. There is just the right amount of absurd and dark comedy to this movie that helps build up the right atmosphere.

I was genuinely surprised by this movie. I knew that it wouldn't be a horrible movie, because Steve Carell usually delivers great performances and do good comedy. But his deliverance in this movie was just phenomenal. He was so well-cast for this movie. As was Keira Knightley, and their chemistry on the screen was just sizzling.

The movie also boasts some rather great cameo appearances, all of whom really helped adding to the movie, by actors and actresses such as Rob Corddry, Patton Oswalt, William Petersen and, of course, Martin Sheen.

"Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" is a definite to-watch-movie for any movie aficionado, because it is very beautiful and moving in many ways. I am really happy that I sat down to watch this movie. And to top it off, this is the type of movie that leaves you with a parting gift, something to think about; what would you do if you only had 21 days left before the world ended?

Oh, and as a final note, if you are prone to tear in beautiful movies, you might keep a tissue at hand for the ending of this movie. Just a word of advice.