Thursday, October 1, 2026
*** 1/2 out of *****
Running time: 101 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for language including sexual references, some drug use and brief violence.
As a child of the 50s I grew up in an era when the end of the world seemed a very real possibility. But, like most of my contemporaries, the reality of actually ducking and covering under a school desk didn't really strike home until we were a lot older. By that time the movies had caught up to us. Apocalyptic films, featuring the world coming to an end through collision (When World Collide), accidental nuclear war (On the Beach, Fail Safe, Dr Strangelove) or contagion (The Omega Man) became a popular genre in the late 50s and 60s. Repeated viewings of such films made me a lifetime fan of the genre.
The best of the lot was Stanley Kramer's On the Beach. This 1959 film, starring Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Ava Gardner and Tony Perkins, depicted the last healthy survivors of a nuclear war as they faced certain doom. The characters approached their demise with grace, humor and a final show of passion for life. Serious, unrelentingly grim and very moving, the film burns itself into your memory.
Due to the magnificent acting of Steve Carell and a strong supporting cast which includes Keira Knightly and Derek Luke, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World might well become such a classic. Just as Gregory Peck embodied all that we admire in the American male of his era - strong yet reasoned, sensitive yet forceful, and with a huge store of human decency, Carell's everyman inspires us to be better. That he's also this decade's Jack Lemmon helps soften the unrelenting gloom of the film's subject. For here we have an actor one admires simply because he's been cast so many times as the guy you'd like to be if you only had the opportunity to be as decent, romantic, loyal and kind as his screen persona.
From the very first scene you know that Earth is doomed. What matters is how you're going to spend your last 18 days. Many are so freaked out that they resort to the extremes of sex, drugs, violence and despair to get through . But somehow Dodge (Carell) has the sense, decency and inner strength to make the most of his remaining days. He teams up with Penny (Knightly) a sidekick who had hitherto been a lost soul and they take to the highway for a last road trip.
The film's writer/director, Lorene Scafaria, is best known for having written the quirky Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist, and for her writing on the insanely off-kilter TV series, Children's Hospital. Here she takes on a shockingly serious topic and turns it into an offbeat love story. It's an unexpected success, and this talented storyteller bears watching.
