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

Stars:

Steve Carell, Keira Knightley, Melanie Lynskey

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Carell	...	Dodge
Keira Knightley	...	Penny
Adam Brody	...	Owen
Connie Britton	...	Diane
Roger Aaron Brown	...	Alfred
Rob Huebel	...	Jeremy
Trisha Gorman	...	Crying Woman
Nancy Carell	...	Linda
Mark Moses	...	Anchorman
Tonita Castro	...	Elsa
Leslie Murphy	...	Amy
Rob Corddry	...	Warren
Kasey Campbell	...	Danny
Melanie Lynskey	...	Karen
Vince Grant	...	Man #1 / Chip

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:

end of the world | road trip | human extinction | apocalypse | reunited lovers | 

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Taglines:

The first comedy about the end of it all

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | 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 [Japan]

Country:

USA

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 USA:

$3,822,803, 24 June 2012, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$6,619,173, 1 July 2012

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features,Mandate Pictures,Indian Paintbrush

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital Dolby

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Keira Knightley says she was 28 in the film, though at the time of release, was 27.

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Goofs

When they are eating at Olivia's parents' house, the position of Dodge's fork changes position.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Radio Announcer: OK, what we're getting now is - yes, they're saying it was in fact a fire that erupted inside the external tank of the ship, exactly ninety-eight seconds after it entered the asteroid field. No one is sure what caused the fire which led to the massive explosion, killing all twelve crew members and scientists aboard the space shuttle Deliverance, taking with them our last and only hope. Once again, if you're just tuning in, the CSA space shuttle Deliverance has been destroyed. The ...
[...]

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Connections

References The Road Warrior (1981)

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Soundtracks

The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)
Written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio
Performed by The Walker Brothers
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under License from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

The movie has heart and elicited real emotion from me.

There really isn't one aspect of the actual events of this story that isn't some kind of spoiler, the less known the better. It's better to watch this thing completely fresh. That's how I saw it and it made the experience far better it would seem. Without getting in to detail, the story itself starts off bizarre and it seems like they simply picked the wrong subject to try and make a dramedy about. Yet, getting to know and sympathize with Carell's character is what flat out makes the film. Keira Knightley is wonderful and this is probably the best thing I've ever seen her do.

The overall tone fights itself a LOT as it jumps from the morose to the absurd to events that just aren't logical. Still, since no one has faced the end of the world, what exactly is logical? They did respectfully touch on the aspect of faith but it struck me more that they went out of their way to avoid the subject for the most part. To me, that's playing it way too safe. They did that a lot with many subjects that you would expect to come up in an end of days film. Overall, the movie has heart and elicited real emotion from me.