Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2017 12:43:07 GMT
I went into this film with ZERO expectations. It was an indie film with two major stars made by "Focus Features" a sister company of "Universal Studios". I found it when NETFLIX suggested it to me.
I have to say, this film has a STRONG opening. It's not your typical "Guy is going to blow up the comet to save MANKIND" garbage. It's a film about humans, about how to live your life. We all live our lives as if we are going to LIVE FOREVER, but the truth is we are all going to die. So why not live it right? Live for right now. Be happy.
My gripe is the middle of the film. SPOILER BELOW:
The beginning is strong, like I said before. However, once Knightly and Carrell escape a riot and get picked up by a truck driver, it turns into "OVER THE TOP" quirkiness. I feel as if the tone of the film changes from DARK-WITTY Comedy to over the top B-raunchy/physical comedy. When the truck driver gets shot in the neck out of nowhere, he was fine until that point. I think I would have toned his character down a bit and have him shoot himself after he tells his story, making you think he's going to kill the two main characters, only to have him shoot himself.
Then the "Friendslys" scene. I didn't like how out of place it felt. The point of a story like this is to meet people and see how they are dealing with the end of the world, see how others are facing Armageddon. We already saw the couples at the beginning having orgies and doing drugs, why do we need to see another group doing the same thing? It's redundant.
Then we have the police scene. I thought the dialogue was brilliant. I loved how Knightly interacted with the cop. The only difference I would have made was to have the officer realize how stupid it was to keep going in the face of the "End of the World" and just cry or walk away, maybe have Dodge (Carrell) say "Just go home, it's okay" or something. Going to jail and getting booked was out of place.
The problem with over the top quirky characters is that Knightly is supposed to be that character, the duo comedy is Carrell playing the depressed straight character, and Knightly playing the quirky over the top character, but the rest of the world is supposed to be pretty straight and normal.
HOWEVER, after the police scene when the two main characters go to an old boyfriends BUNKER to call her parents in England, it changes back to AMAZING. It really felt like two different films. The beginning and the third act are amazing, the few sequences in between I mentioned above were out of place and wasted time. I would have rather spent more time developing their romance, or meeting other characters and seeing how they were facing the end of the world.
Once they go to Dodge's High School sweetheart's home, it's heartwarming. The beach scene with all the families, the part where he finally reconciles with his father, the sacrifice he makes for her to try and send her home on a private plane, then the end when she returns, it's really well made.
I guess I get frustrated when you see a film with SO MUCH POTENTIAL, but those few scenes in the middle took me out of it, and then I got right back in it. If the entire film flowed the way the opening and last half did, it would be a top movie for me this year. I give it 6/10 overall. If you tighten the script and take out those out of place scenes/characters, it's easily an 8/10. Carrell is great throughout, he really wasted a GREAT PERFORMANCE that could have been award worthy, his depressed demeanor and detached look was on point. With a slightly better director and one more re-write, this would be up there with "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." The message was beautiful, the ending was beautiful. GO LIVE YOUR LIFE.
I have to say, this film has a STRONG opening. It's not your typical "Guy is going to blow up the comet to save MANKIND" garbage. It's a film about humans, about how to live your life. We all live our lives as if we are going to LIVE FOREVER, but the truth is we are all going to die. So why not live it right? Live for right now. Be happy.
My gripe is the middle of the film. SPOILER BELOW:
The beginning is strong, like I said before. However, once Knightly and Carrell escape a riot and get picked up by a truck driver, it turns into "OVER THE TOP" quirkiness. I feel as if the tone of the film changes from DARK-WITTY Comedy to over the top B-raunchy/physical comedy. When the truck driver gets shot in the neck out of nowhere, he was fine until that point. I think I would have toned his character down a bit and have him shoot himself after he tells his story, making you think he's going to kill the two main characters, only to have him shoot himself.
Then the "Friendslys" scene. I didn't like how out of place it felt. The point of a story like this is to meet people and see how they are dealing with the end of the world, see how others are facing Armageddon. We already saw the couples at the beginning having orgies and doing drugs, why do we need to see another group doing the same thing? It's redundant.
Then we have the police scene. I thought the dialogue was brilliant. I loved how Knightly interacted with the cop. The only difference I would have made was to have the officer realize how stupid it was to keep going in the face of the "End of the World" and just cry or walk away, maybe have Dodge (Carrell) say "Just go home, it's okay" or something. Going to jail and getting booked was out of place.
The problem with over the top quirky characters is that Knightly is supposed to be that character, the duo comedy is Carrell playing the depressed straight character, and Knightly playing the quirky over the top character, but the rest of the world is supposed to be pretty straight and normal.
HOWEVER, after the police scene when the two main characters go to an old boyfriends BUNKER to call her parents in England, it changes back to AMAZING. It really felt like two different films. The beginning and the third act are amazing, the few sequences in between I mentioned above were out of place and wasted time. I would have rather spent more time developing their romance, or meeting other characters and seeing how they were facing the end of the world.
Once they go to Dodge's High School sweetheart's home, it's heartwarming. The beach scene with all the families, the part where he finally reconciles with his father, the sacrifice he makes for her to try and send her home on a private plane, then the end when she returns, it's really well made.
I guess I get frustrated when you see a film with SO MUCH POTENTIAL, but those few scenes in the middle took me out of it, and then I got right back in it. If the entire film flowed the way the opening and last half did, it would be a top movie for me this year. I give it 6/10 overall. If you tighten the script and take out those out of place scenes/characters, it's easily an 8/10. Carrell is great throughout, he really wasted a GREAT PERFORMANCE that could have been award worthy, his depressed demeanor and detached look was on point. With a slightly better director and one more re-write, this would be up there with "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." The message was beautiful, the ending was beautiful. GO LIVE YOUR LIFE.
