The new dramedy directed by Lorene Scarfaria, starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, paints a world where an asteroid is threatening to destroy Earth, and the last space shuttle mission to stop it has failed. Under these dire circumstances, Dodge (Carell) finds himself alone, as his wife literally takes off running, and he is forced to deal with not only the impending doom of Armageddon, but also the loss of his wife. He decides to continue on with his life, going into work everyday, even as his coworkers around him are devastated, even going so far as taking their own lives. About 14 days before the asteroid is due to hit, Dodge finds Penny (Knightley) crying on the fire escape, as her boyfriend has just left her. As they talk throughout the night, they decide to find the "one that got away" for Dodge. What follows is a road trip through different situations involving our characters interacting with various people dealing with the end of mankind, such as a restaurant turned into a crazy orgy palace, or a police officer still adhering to the law and giving tickets out.
While the premise seems depressing and sad, its when our two main characters come together that the comedy ensues. Carell seems to be doing his usual "awkward out-of love" character, it works well within the confines of the story. Despite seeing this performance done on more than one occasion (40-Year Old Virgin, Crazy, Stupid, Love), it still manages to pull you in a make you feel for this guy, who while trying to manage the fact that doom is imminent, he also just lost his wife as well. Talk about bad luck. Another point of comedy comes from Dodges' friends, and how they interact with the news of the asteroid. Many start taking drugs and having sex with random strangers. One scene stands out with Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine, The Daily Show) and his wife as they try to console a newly single Dodge. Knightley does an admirable job as well, bringing enough spunk to her character without going overboard. Seeing our two main leads and their friendship grow is the best part of the movie.
If you are looking for a straight up comedy, this might not be the movie for you. With the subject material being quite dark, it is nice to see a comedy/drama stick to its' guns, using the characters and developing them to make you care about them. The plot does some nice things as well, keeping you guessing on certain parts about what is going to happen. On the other hand, some moments can be figured out a mile away. This doesn't detract from the story as a whole, because the emotional moments of the movie far outweigh the negatives. Also, I thought there were some pacing issues during the first half of the film, mainly waiting for things to happen and fall into place. The ending is not quite what you would expect either, which is nice and surprising. In the end, it is nice to see an apocalypse movie deal with the people affected by it, and not about the heroes trying to save the day in an effects' extravaganza. How the characters react to the situations they find themselves brings real gravitas to the film, and this ultimately helps make us feel and care for what happens to them.
4 out of 5 Stars.
