I've got a news flash for you regarding this film: Everybody dies towards the end.
It's not really a spoiler much since it's pretty much blatant from the title alone how things will end for all the characters involved.
There are a lot of movies that depict life before the Apocalypse as bleak, depressing and very sad. Director Lorene Scafaria who also wrote the script turns everything upside down showing a world that's not really turned upside down. Just a little bit kooky but not too much.
I liked that the movie played on its strengths of being a quirky rom-com set during the final days of humanity. Carell and Knightly has their moments within the film. They get to shine equally and there's something about the pairing of the two. The two main stars does have some semblance of chemistry in quite a few scenes.
But no, "Seeking a Friend" aint your usual love story where they live happily ever after. Its also not the typical disaster movie where everybody just does all crazy stuff like there's no tomorrow. It's actually a subtle mix of both.
Plot is pretty simple. You'll actually get the whole premise after watching the film's trailer:
Philosophically speaking the script is pretty tight and simple. It's got the cathartic effect somewhere in it that makes it totally worth watching. As Dodge (Carell) and Penny (Knightly) go on their journey of self-discovery and love, we get to see a transformation unfolding before our eyes with Dodge finding himself once more and finding love while he's at it.
I'm all for Keira Knightly's role as Penny who is bubbly and fun and optimistic about life. She's the perfect gal and one who looks a bit too much like Sasha Grey in Eminem's Space Bound music video.
She also showcases a comedic side which makes this film which is supposedly a bleak and depressing pre-Apocalyptic flick to something that would make lovers go "ahhhhhh"....
If there's anything that I should rant about this movie, it's the fact that it ends in a sour note. Without spoiling too much, it's got that requisite happy ending that we need in terms of the plot but there's also people that "badtrip" bit where they all have to die (End of the world being part of the title and all that).
It's not as satisfying as what we want it to be and event until the very last moments of the film, before that white fade out occurs, everyone in the silent Glorietta theater were hoping that there's a miracle of sorts, or there's a real sense of closure for the flick.
Sadly, there's none and we have to deal with it; still the film is pretty damn nice.
VERDICT: 8.5/10
Special thanks to Ayala Malls Cinema for the special screening session. "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" will be exclusively playing at Ayala Cinemas including Greenbelt and Glorietta.
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