This is the End (2013)

On its face, the new comedy This is the End seems like it could be the embodiment of all the weaknesses in modern cinematic comedy. Many recent projects, particularly from the likes of many actors in this film, have been far too reliant on the performers and have mostly cast aside any attempts at story or forward momentum in favor of long scenes of rambling improvisation. This can and has been used well, and in fact it’s resulted in some pretty good movies, but the best are able to find some kind of middle ground. You have to let the funny people be funny, but you also actually have to give the audience something with actual substance. In many ways This is the End seems like it could just be the next logical step in the process. Instead of watching actors have a load of fun hanging out with each other while playing characters, we now get to do the same thing only without the “playing characters” part. Actors can make themselves laugh all day, but that hardly ever carries over to the audience in a non-gag reel setting.

This is why I was somewhat surprised by how smart This is the End actually was, and while it lacks any real structure it’s still a hilarious little doodle that explores its premise in some really fascinating ways. In many ways it reminds me of Monty Python films such as Life of Brian and The Holy Grail; it takes a central conceit and uses it to create various sketches and scenes that go on for quite some time, escalate to something resembling a climax and then the movie ends. Speaking of the ending, writer/directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are even able to make this comparison complete by throwing in their very own “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” that will hit much of the target audience right in the nostalgic sweet spot. It’s a really fun movie, and everyone involved is putting more effort into the proceedings than it may outwardly appear.

It begins with Seth Rogen meeting Jay Baruchel at the airport. Jay isn’t the biggest fan of Los Angeles or the whole Hollywood lifestyle, but he’s looking forward to just crashing at Seth’s place for a long weekend. However, Seth very quickly brings him along to a party at James Franco’s house. Jay is visibly having no fun there, but not long after they arrive the apocalypse begins. There is mass chaos, and many celebrities are killed, until only Seth, Jay, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson are left. They barricade themselves inside the Franco estate and decide to wait everything out, but several visitors—both human and otherwise—have other ideas.

From there the movie bounces from one idea or interaction to the next, and while it’s not always graceful it’s almost always quite funny. This is the End is usually at its most hilarious when all the “characters” are just standing around James Franco’s house arguing with each other, but it’s also able to pull off something that not many movies like this are able to: the action is reasonably effective as well. Any movie like this is going to require at least some competence in the suspense department, and the duo of Rogen and Goldberg are typically able to put these sequences together quite skillfully. The special effects aren't spectacular, though they’re probably as good as any movie like this is going to get. There is a comedy coming out later this month that I saw a while back, and it has one horrific-looking explosion in it. It never gets nearly that bad here.

Rogen and Goldberg are also able to take this silly idea about actors in the apocalypse and fill it with some of their usual themes around friendship among dudes. As you might expect, the ladies don’t get a ton of time here—Emma Watson is not in it nearly as much as the advertising might suggest—but these two undoubtedly have a gift for writing scenes of bros hanging out and being bros. As man-centric as their work normally is, it’s slightly evened out by the fact that they don’t always seem to have a high opinion of the male characters they’re writing. Most of their oeuvre is filled with sophomoric man-children who find themselves looking maturity in the eye and running in the opposite direction, and while it’s not quite as literal here as it has been in past work, these are definitely characters who don’t want anything to do with a survival situation like this. It stands to reason that getting locked up in a house with five other self-centered guys might bring out the worst in everyone.

Grade: B+