All You Really Need Is One

"Seeking a Friend for the End of the World"

Written & Directed by: Lorene Scafaria

Starring: Steve Carell, Keira Knightley

Rated: R

101 Minutes



By now, audiences must be overly familiar with the disaster film.  Countless blockbusters have invented ever-creative ways to depict the end of days, usually accompanied by spectacular CGI shots of colossal waves, nuclear explosions or planetary scorching.  Now there is "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World," a disaster film without a single shot of the impending disaster.  Rather than CGI and global calamity, here is a film that is more concerned with the internal disasters of one's life, quietly examining what a person might actually do knowing the earth had three weeks of existence left.  The film's most poignant line also happens to be one of its funniest.  As a man's housemaid leaves after the day's work, and knowing what he knows, he quite casually observes "I regret my entire life."

"Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" begins with probably its wisest move by informing us that a comet, 70 miles wide, is to impact earth in three weeks' time.  Not only that, but the last ditch effort to stop it has failed.  This information is provided via radio broadcast, as Dodge (Steve Carell) listens, almost no emotion on his face.  By starting with this, the movie plays fair by eliminating the expectation of a happy ending, thereby allowing the audience to relax without the distraction or tension of the unknown to come.  Don't get me wrong; if there is a happy ending, and the comet does not impact earth, it's a pleasant surprise.  If it does impact earth, well, we can't say we weren't warned.  Given the latter scenario, we don't really blame Dodge's wife, Linda (played by Carell's real-life spouse, Nancy), for fleeing the car, never to be seen again. 

The first thirty minutes or so are spent establishing what has become of everyday routines in the earth's final weeks.  Offices sit empty, save for a few employees who would rather stick to what they know, perhaps for the comfort of familiarity.  Dodge's occupation is ironic; he is an insurance salesman, and in one clever bit of dialogue, explains disaster insurance to a customer over the phone.  Yes, the premium is expensive, but hey, it includes comet coverage.  He returns home to find the maid (Tonita Castro) happily cleaning his apartment.  She informs him that he is almost out of window cleaner and that she'll see him next week.  When he tells her that won't be necessary, she humorously goes into a panic over losing her job rather than coming to the realization that it literally won't be necessary for her to return.  It is moments like this that earn "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" some nice laughs; they are quiet laughs, mind you, because this is humor that comes from the human spirit rather than raunchy behavior.  There are certainly some deviant methods of coping, but nothing plays as unrealistic, because how do we know what we would do under the same circumstances?

Dodge shuffles his way through a party with friends, who cruly inform him that Linda wasn't really happy in the marriage.  They try to hook him up with an overly-eager party guest (Melanie Lynskey) and even his friend's wife comes on to him.  All the while, Dodge just continues to look gloomily into the void, boldly unafraid to say that he doesn't know how to feel or what he wants.  That's the nice thing about the screenplay by Lorene Scafaria (who also directed); it allows the characters their moments of introspection and does not give way to exposition, which is just a way to pander to the audiences' need for easy understanding.  It feels as though the characters wrote themselves, and not having clear motivations every step of the way is a more honest reflection of real life.

Pretty soon, Dodge finds a downstairs neighbor crying outside on his fire escape.  This is Penny (Keira Knightley), who has just split with her boyfriend.  But the real reason she's crying is her missed opportunity to fly home to be with her family.  Penny tells Dodge she has been meaning to give him several months' worth of mail that has mistakenly been delivered to her apartment, and through this development we also discover a regret about Dodge that he didn't even realize he had.  He tells her he knows a man with a plane, and if she agrees to provide the car, he'll get her where she needs to go.  What follows is a middle act road trip movie that explores the vitality of human companionship.  As the two protagonists encounter all kinds of perplexing human behavior, they stay remarkably grounded by their quiet contentment to just have one another as company.

The remarkable thing about "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" is the fine balance of tone.  It stays just funny enough to be uplifitng without being inappropriate, and just poignant enough to be meaningful without being melodramatic.  There are beats of absurd comedy, as when Dodge and Penny encounter a nice traveler who has hired a hitman to assassinate him at an unknown time.  It is perhaps inevitable that he breifly mistakes Dodge for the assassin.  They also visit a restaurant called 'Friendly's' where the staff is intrusively friendly, indeed.  The nature of the place is perhaps a shade unbelievable, but that is wisely acknowledged by Penny and Dodge as well.  Needless to say, they don't stay for the, um, dessert.

Whether they get to where they need to be is beside the point.  Almost certainly, where they need to be is subject to change by the film's end.  It's the process of getting there that really matters, and what they can learn from one another along the way.  I mentioned earlier the lack of tension that helps the audience to relax.  Don't mistake that for a boring narrative.  The characters are so engaging and their developments so honest, that I couldn't help but feel that this would be a nice way to spend the end of days.  In one of the film's best moments, Dodge and Penny are forced to stop in the road, as dozens of people file toward some unknown destination.  Without a word, they silently join the group, only to find a clergyman of some faith providing baptisms in the ocean to anybody who desires one.  While they don't partake, they sit together and observe while having their own moment on the beach together.  It is a beautiful shot, and nicely respectful to the role of faith in conditions like these.

"Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" emerges as an early contender for one of the best pictures of the year.  It is a sweet and deeply introspective feature that examines the hopefulness capable in all of us, even in the face of impending doom.  There are many who live life thriving off their social interactions and constant need for attention, and some who function better in solitude.  Here is a film that finds a nice balance by suggesting that true happiness is found in the close bond of love and friendship, even if you only have one.  The film's final shot conveys that thesis, I believe.  If you stop to think about it, there is really nothing left to resolve by the movie's conclusion.  Everyone is where they need to be and it ends with Dodge saying the only thing there is left to say.


*Note. The R rating is misleading.  While there is language, it is infrequent.  This is such a sweet-natured film and would be safe for anyone looking to be uplifted.

The Real Story Is Much, MUCH Better

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov

Written By: Seth Grahame-Smith 

Starring: Benjamin Walker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Dominic Cooper

Rated R

105 Minutes



Never before have I so vastly overestimated my desire to see a film.  Especially one called "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."  Knowing what I know about today's youth and how the public school system fails in teaching them, do we really need something like Abraham Lincoln hunting vampires to make history more enjoyable?  A much more entertaining film on Lincoln is Robert Redford's "The Conspirator," which has easily more tension than this one, and wouldn't ya know it, is based on actual history.

I will get the one compliment I can pay "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" out of the way right now: its star, Benjamin Walker, is a pretty engaging presence who actually looks somewhat like Lincoln, especially in the film's late passages.  Even more, he uncannily resembles a young Liam Neeson, and perhaps for that fact alone, he should have a future ahead of him.  Maybe he didn't know what he was getting into signing on for this picture.  I have not read the source novel it's based on, but my unwise assumption was that it was some sort of farcical and comedic take given the title.  Indeed, if this were something more akin to "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" I may have let my guard down more.  Alas, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" takes itself so seriously, that its re-telling of American History is unforgivably offensive.  To attribute the civil war to a conflict between vampires and humans is wrecklessly disrespectful to the men who fought in it.  The motivations of the Confederate soldiers were much more complex in reality than history would lead us to believe; and to simplify that and literally demonize the south by casting them as undead bloodsuckers is irresponsible filmmaking. 

Not that the vampires in this movie are all that terrifying.  As far as I could tell, they are capable only of screaming in humans' faces and scrambling about on train tops and horses.  One of the vampires (Marton Csokas) kills young Abraham's mother, and he devotes his life to the pursuit of vanquishing them.  A mysterious drifter named Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper) takes Lincoln under his wing with promises of undead justice.  Pretty soon Abraham is wielding his trusty axe and slicing and dicing his way to the Presidency.  And what else can I tell you?  There are brief moments where the movie actually pauses to acknowledge real events in Lincoln's history, such as the first time he meets Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).  His first foray into politics is muddled in some sort of middle act montage, I think, and does not resonate well.  Therein lies the problem.  The film would have us believe that Abraham Lincoln is defined by his lust for vengeance and that his political foundation was just a conveniant secondary choice to serve as the means to an end.

As directed by Timur Bekmambetov, whose "Wanted" was pretty good, the movie suffers from an over-abundance of slow-motion sequences that exist primarily to show you that something is actually happening.  The full-speed action is so disorienting that you would have no clue what is going on unless it slowed down and got right in your face.  So it does.  The editing is also problematic.  In an hour and forty two minutes, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" attempts to account for Lincoln's entire life, right up until the night he was assasinated.  Thankfully, the movie ends before he arrives at Ford's Theatre.  I'd hate to see what sort of supernatural beast they'd blame that tragic event on.  Werewolf, perhaps? 

I will not waste any more time trying to convince you not to see this movie.  It spends its limited, but still unbearable running time convincing you of that on its own.  There was a small portion of me that really wanted to enjoy the concept of something like this; but I totally misunderstood the nature of that concept.  "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" is an atrocity of movie making that is without a single redeeming quality outside of its lead actor.  Cast aside all the grievences violating  Mr. Lincoln's history, and what's left is actually a pretty boring and benign CGI fest.  If that sounds like your thing, then by all means.  But when Willie Lincoln's death was attributed to a vampire bite, that's when I wanted to take an axe to the screen.

Everybody Wants A Thrill

'Rock of Ages"

Directed by Adam Shankman

Starring: Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise and Malin Akerman

Rated: PG-13

125 Minutes



"Rock of Ages" arrives at a time when audiences are perhaps burnt out on the jukebox musical genre.  With "Glee" on television, and every couple of years puncuated with a "Mama Mia" or a "Hairspray," they seem to have worn out their welcome.  That's too bad, because "Rock of Ages" happens to be a particularly excellent offering of the jukebox musical platform that does justice to the songs that it honors.  Part of the success here, I think, is pitch-perfect casting and enough energy for both the movie and the stage production that it's based on.   While the actors may not all have equal vocal abilities, everyone brings a level of exuberance that is completely disarming in its sincerity.

While watching "Rock of Ages," I wasn't really thinking about "Glee" or similar contemporary takes on modern classics.  Instead, think more like "Moulin Rouge" almost a century later.  "Rock of Ages" assembles probably 95% of all the best glam rock of the 80s.  It's quite a feat; but the pleasure comes from observing how each tune is inserted cleverly into the story, which by itself would be throwaway material.  Of course, if each one of the roughly 22 songs were played full length, you'd have one helluva long movie, so the compromise is a few genre-bending medleys that accentuate all the best parts of all of your favorites.  I don't know how this works on the broadway stage, but for a film of over two hours, it does remarkable things to the pacing of the action in a pretty unoriginal narrative.

The cookie-cutter plot involves Julianne Hough playing a small-town girl living in her lonely world, who takes a greyhound out west to make it big in Hollywood.  This is Sherrie Christian (seriously, you'll be forgiven if you want to break out with "Sister Christian"), who can sing sweetly, but finds herself overwhelmed at the neon glow and seedy sneer of the Sunset strip.  Luckily, she runs into Drew (Diego Boneta, the film's stand-out performer), who works at the Bourbon Room, an infamous rock n' roll venue that is at risk of closing due to some failed bookings and back taxes.  The owner, Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin, surprisingly vivacious) is reluctant to offer yet another dream chaser a job, but after a good first impression, he gives her a shot.  Dupree and his house manager Lonny (Russell Brand) are banking on securing the rock n' roll burn out Stacee Jaxx for a final show with his band before he goes solo.  Tom Cruise in his aging years is consistently full of surprises and as Stacee Jaxx, he has performed his own vocals and does a very competant job with the difficult tunes.  This will be a relief to anyone who saw Pierce Brosnan tone-bomb his way through "Mama Mia."

Jaxx is managed by the low life Paul Gill (Paul Giamatti), who operates like a used car salesman in a prostitution casino.  I don't know if those exist, but this guy could sure corner the market on that endeavor.  Pretty soon, things are getting complicated romanticly, financially and musically.  Stacee Jax finds himself with renewed purpose after an interview with a curt journalist played by Malin Akerman.  Cruise's performance in this scene has shades of his Frank Mackey character during a similar scene from "Magnolia."  He conveys a lot by saying very little and people see right through his facade.  There is also an oddly shoehorned subplot with a Mayor (Brian Cranston) who is underhanded by his wife, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is on a war path to close the den of filth that is the Bourbon Room.  This development is obviously injected for conflict, but disappears for large sections of the film.  That's okay because there are so many wall-to-wall rock n' roll hits that are performed so well that the movie doesn't necessarily need conflict.

"Rock of Ages" is generating mostly negative reviews.  Given the over-exposure of jukebox musicals, I suppose that is to be expected to some degree.  But I will go to my grave defending the level of effort put on screen here.  Adam Shankman, who directed the most recent re-make of "Hairspray," certainly knows his way around staging.  He may be more hit or miss with his mainstream fare, but he succeeds here by providing the audience with an onslaught irresistable foot-tapping rock anthems and ballads.  Each performer puts in the effort to do the music justice and by the end, everyone has energy to spare.  I am a sucker for 80's rock n' roll and while it would be easy to complain that "Rock of Ages" has a karaoke feel, I argue that those same people doing the  complaining are out at the bars on Friday night singing all the same songs.  And not nearly as well as the singing in this film.

Faith Vs. Science-And they both have a point.

"Prometheus"

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Logan Marshall-Green, Idris Elba

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Written by: Jon Spaihts, Damon Lindelof

Rated: R

124 Minutes

"Prometheus" is a masterstroke of modern science fiction cinema.  Under the direction of Ridley Scott, who is returning to the genre after 27 years, it may not reach the iconic status still held by his "Alien" but it certainly plays around in the same territory to great effect.  There has been much speculation throughout the development of "Prometheus" about its status as a prequel to Scott's 1979 masterpiece.  While there are connecting threads, those looking for a definitive answer may not come away satisfied; indeed, "Prometheus" raises many more questions than it addresses.  While that may sound like a frustrating prospect, it's exactly the point.  When dealing with the origins of mankind, don't we always have more questions than answers?

"Prometheus" opens with an intriguing and startling prologue, much different from how "Alien" begins.  There are sweeping shots of desolate but beautiful landscape, only these are not of our earth.  Immediately following these shots is an event I will not even attempt to describe or analyze, as it will become the source of endless online speculation and discussion until the sequel.  Next we meet Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), who are exploring a mysterious cave off the coast of Scotland.  Here they find ancient drawings depicting a humanoid figure pointing to the stars, which they view as an invitation and possible source of life on earth.  She wears her father's cross around her neck, a sign of her faith in devine creation.  He speculates more on evidence and depends on what he can see. Together, along with fifteen others, they embark on the starship Prometheus to travel to a distant moon that can sustain life and orbits a planet depicted in the cave drawings.

To describe everything they find when they arrive would be to lessen the impact of the mysteries and surprises of the narrative.  I should mention some key players, including a cold corporate drone named Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron), a fierce Captain (Idris Elba) and a protocol android called David (Michael Fassbender in a fascinating performance) who maintains the ship while the team is in stasis sleep.  Each of these characters is vital to the audiences' ability to interpret the themes at play here.  The brilliance of the screenplay, by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof, is that it stays relatively ambiguous while exploring the age-old concepts of faith versus science.  To be sure, each viewpoint is represented, but neither is forced or even advocated for.  Instead, at certain points in the plot, characters that fall on one side of the coin or the other are given an opportunity to express their ideas, and we can see the logic in both.

Science may look for the 'how' in everything, but faith does not require the 'how', or even the 'why' a lot of the time.  What both have in common, I believe, is a lack of definitive answers.  Some have criticized "Prometheus" for unraveling in the third act and not providing enough answers to its many penetrating questions.  But this is precisely why the film is so terrifying; in the never-ending quest to find out why we exist and what our true origins are, the fear of the unknown unravels us.  As "Prometheus" progresses, it is that fear and careless pursuit of the truth that catches the entire team off guard.  Perhaps the ships's captain, Janek, has the best position; during one vital conversation, he explains that he doesn't care where he comes from.  He just flies the ship.

Given the big gap between Ridley Scott's last outing with sci-fi ("Blade Runner" and "Legend"), it is incredible how comfortably he seems to slip back into the genre.  "Prometheus" may just be the most thoughtful space adventure in years and fans of the "Alien" series, as well as newcomers, will find something to enjoy.  A warning to the squeamish, however, that there is a middle act Caesarean section that is the the most graphic depiction this side of "Breaking Dawn Part 1."  The context for why it must happen will not be revealed by me, but if you are familiar with this universe, you may very well guess.  There are many other scenes of disturbing brutality that demonstrate the flexibility of the MPAA rating system.  While some of the violence pushes the line of what you might find in a PG-13 movie, the R rating is a soft one.

I hope that the mixed reviews for "Prometheus" will balance out in time and show it for what it is: a deeply introspective sci-fi adventure that explores the very nature of mankind.  The slogans for the film could not have been more spot-on.  Ridley Scott settles easily in a return to form here, working off a mature and calculating script by Damon Lindelof.  If you find yourself feeling frustrated at the end, fear not.  I truly believe it to be intended this way.  Besides, all of the characters don't get their answers by the end either.  Need I remind you how the film opens?  Looking back on that scene, perhaps what it means is that nobody will ever understand the 'why', even if they have the 'how.'  That perplexity could drive anyone mad, including the ones we would assume to have all the answers.  Now there's something to think about.

Bad Aliens, whatcha gonna do?

"Men in Black 3"

Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld

Written by: Etan Cohen

Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin

Rated Pg-13

106 Minutes

"Men In Black 3" plays kind of like a cinematic tightrope act.  It walks a fine line between trying extremely hard to keep the audience engaged and running a real risk of losing its footing at any moment.  Given the challenges of trying to keep a fifteen year-old franchise relevant, "Men in Black 3" mostly works.  That may be due to the consistent direction of Barry Sonnenfeld, and considering that the production of this third offering was plagued with issues and was victim to re-writes, it is a worthy installment that will hopefully serve as the swan song to the "Men in Black."

The consistent pleasure with these films has been the chemistry and interplay between Tommy Lee Jones' Agent K and Will Smith's Agent J.  The original "Men in Black" had Agent K recruiting J as his new partner.  In a sci-fi twist on the buddy formula, Agent K's droll, straight-laced expressions make him a perfect counterpoint to Agent J's over-the-top, smug expressions and one-liners.  The quirkiness of that dynamic makes it endearing without being awkward, and that remains intact as this picture opens.  Missing this time is Rip Torn as the enigmatic Zed, who I felt was the series' best character.  Instead, the Men in Black agency is now headed by 'O' (Emma Thompson).  Thompson, who is always welcome in any picture, here seems just slightly off tone.  The plot this time around concerns one 'Boris the Animal' (Jemaine Clement), a Boglodite alien who was captured and imprisoned on the moon after Agent K shot off his arm in 1969.  The opening sequence has Boris escaping from the moon, and with none too subtle exposition, explains that he intends to seek revenge on Agent K by traveling back in time to kill him before he has an opportunity to shoot off his arm.

One might rightly question the extreme vengeance Boris seeks, but once you see what his remaining arm is capable of, it almost resonates with the audience why he might want the other one back.  Through a perplexing series of events, and after a shoot-out in a seedy chinese restaraunt that recalls some of the best sequences of the previous films, Agent K is seemingly erased from existence.  Everyone but Agent J has apparently lost their memories of dear Agent K, and after observing a very specific craving exhibited by J, Agent O postulates that this must be a result of a disturbance in the space-time continuum.  Of course.  Working together they confirm that Boris must have gone back to 1969 and succeeded in his assassination plot.  The obvious solution in these situations is to send Agent J back through time to stop Boris from killing off K.  How he is capable of achieving this results in the film's best sequence, albeit in well-rendered CGI.

Admittedly, the central plot of "Men in Black 3" feels a bit shoehorned into the established world of the series and Boris the Animal is perhaps a bit TOO sinister for the light-hearted nature of the franchise.  This movie goes to great lengths to establish the backstory and history of Agent K, but if Boris is so central to that history, why was he never at least mentioned in the earlier films?  My guess is that the story hadn't been thought of.  Considering that filming got underway without a second or third act, perhaps the filmmakers didn't yet know what to make of Boris as a character.  Strange then, that the third act of "Men in Black 3" is also its strongest.  The first act relies so heavily on our familiarity with the two main characters, that the screenplay too confidently jumps headlong into the complex mythology of time travel and K's history with Boris.  The problem with that is that it's been fifteen years since the first film and ten years since the second.  The audience needs time to get reacquainted with our Men in Black, but instead, Tommy Lee Jones is literally whisked away within minutes to make way for Josh Brolin to step in as a younger version.

Josh Brolin as a young Agent K is inspired casting, but not quite as convincing as the trailers may have suggested.  It was well-publicised how much time Brolin spent studying Tommy Lee Jones' manerisms and movements, but there is still a slight disconnect between the two men.  A more convincing look-alike for my money is Josh Hartnett; but the caliber of Brolin's performance is touching and respectful to the older version.  Will Smith remains engaging as Agent J and is able to deliver one-liners better than any blockbuster actor I can think of.  The nice thing is, despite re-writes, this screenplay is smart and funny, which goes along way for selling an almost stale franchise.  I'm not sure this third outing is entirely justifiable, especially amid the start of a summer with two of the biggest films of all time being released, but it's a significant amount better than the second film and almost as good as the first.

"Men in Black 3" is a good way to send off the series, I think; and Barry Sonnenfeld would be wise to do so.  With the ending, you get the sense that that is even what he had in mind.  It is surprisingly emotional, and I had to dab my eyes a couple times.  That isn't something to be expected with a picture like this, but it is to its credit that it was able to illicit that reaction.  Between that and the amusing chemistry of the three leads, "Men in Black 3" is worth experiencing.  It goes without saying that you can skip the 3D.  It adds nothing.  The minor compalint is that it spends a bit too much time focusing on time travel and an almost too sinister villain to really immerse us in the alien mythology the way the first film did.  Despite that, I suppose the best compliment I could pay "Men in Black 3" is that you don't want to be neuralyzed after watching it.  And Will Smith certainly doesn't need to improvise one of his wild stories to justify the price of admission.