It's a Disaster (2012)

Four couples meet for Sunday brunch only to discover they are stuck in a house together as the world may be about to end.

Director:

Todd Berger

Writer:

Todd Berger

Stars:

Rachel Boston, Laura Adkin, Kevin M. Brennan

3 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rachel Boston	...	Lexi
Kevin M. Brennan	...	Buck
David Cross	...	Glen
America Ferrera	...	Hedy
Jeff Grace	...	Shane
Erinn Hayes	...	Emma
Blaise Miller	...	Pete
Julia Stiles	...	Tracy
Jesse Draper	...	Dog Walker
Laura Adkin	...	Jenny
Rob McGillivray	...	Gordon
Todd Berger	...	Hal
Will Coleman	...	Public Radio Host (voice) (as Will T.S. Coleman)
Helena Wei	...	Emergency Broadcaster (voice)
Jared Sosa	...	John From Liberty Financial (voice)

Storyline

Eight friends meet for their monthly couples brunch. But what starts as an impromptu therapy session/airing of domestic grievances takes a sudden, catastrophic turn when the city falls victim to a mysterious attack. Trapped in the house and unsure of their fates, these seemingly normal people become increasingly unhinged to surprising results.

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Plot Keywords:

filipino telemarketer | sexy legs | pretty legs | tattooed trash | slender attractive woman | 

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Taglines:

Are you prepared?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including sexual references, and some drug content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Oscilloscope Laboratories [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 June 2013 (Poland)

Also Known As:

It's a Disaster - Bist du bereit?

Filming Locations:

2261 W 21st Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,305, 14 April 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$38,100, 21 April 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vacationeer Productions, Attainment Media Group, ARM Entertainment (II)

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The black and white photo used for the opening credits is of the 1946 Bikini Atoll nuclear test.

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Goofs

Glen calls the final book of the Bible "Revelations" instead of its correct name "Revelation". A Bible History teacher would never make such a mistake.

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Quotes

Hedy: Do you think that when we die, we have to wear the clothes we died in for all of eternity?
Buck: No way. I bet we get those kickin' white robes like you see in the old cartoons.
Hedy: I look awful in white. Maybe Emma would let me borrow some sweats.
Buck: I bet you get a sweet-ass harp too.
Hedy: Hmmmm...
[scoffs]
Hedy: Do you have any idea how many human beings are estimated to have lived and died on Earth throughout all of time?
Buck: I have absolutely no idea.
Hedy: 106 billion.
Buck: Wow.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Schubert's Ave Maria is listed as written by Chopin.

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Connections

References Black Swan (2010)

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Soundtracks

Nocturne in E-Flat Major Op. 9, No. 2
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Performed by The Apollo Symphony Orchestra
Courtesy of Partners in Rhyme, Inc.

User Reviews

Witty, filled with knowing clichés, and the brightest dark humor you'll find

It's a Disaster (2012)

You might not click with this movie right away, or at all, if you don't like the very ordinary style and very ordinary people this group of eight is meant to portray. I recognized too many of my friends, or friends of friends, in these clichéd types of people, and thought the acting and the situation very realistic.

Realistic within the bounds of a really funny somewhat absurdist comedy.

At first you have a gossipy parody of a weekend "couples brunch" where four couples converge, and have been regularly converging, to catch up and have fun. Except that secretly many of them really dread it, and there is some posing and whispering. As a viewer you enjoy the repartee, which is often pretty funny in a laugh out loud way, and you also try to figure out who is who, and whose is whose (the couples include at least one case of infidelity between them which complicates that part).

And I admit I might not have lasted an hour and half of this interplay, no matter how well performed. (To be emphasized, all eight are vivid and convincing in their own ways. It's the core of the movie that these are believable types.)

But you won't need patience once the huge (huge) twist comes along. It's a classic "ship of fools" scenario, and it's compressed into a very short space: a bunch of distinctive types of people find themselves trapped together in a crisis. That's just the interesting starting point, because it's how, exactly, those kind of people respond to crisis that makes it fascinating.

It works. We get to know the four or five most important people really quickly and when things shift and reactions mount--and the jokes keep flowing--you'll be right along for the ride. Some might call this a dark comedy since the backdrop becomes exceedingly dire, but the reality of that darkness is never salient. The humor, right to the very last three seconds, is cutting and bright.

Why, quite, this isn't a masterpiece is one of those amorphous mysteries of the movies. It lacks, I suppose, some sense of air, or of knowing-ness, or of a style that suffuses whether you quite realize it or not. Something about the very ordinariness of it all makes it wriggle in a sufficiency that keeps it from rising up, or getting really gritty. I don't think it's a flaw. It might even wear well over the years. But it makes some of the weaker characters and weaker lines glare just slightly.

See this? Yes! If you just hate the characters after ten minutes, you might give up. Even after the big twist about twenty minutes in the movie is very character driven. But if you sort of like their company and their humor, dive in and hang on. It's a hoot.