Auf der Suche nach einem Freund fürs Ende der Welt (Seeking A Friend For the End of the World)
U.S.A./Singapore/Malaysia/Indonesia 2012

Opening 20 Sep 2012

Directed by: Lorene Scafaria
Writing credits: Lorene Scafaria
Principal actors: Steve Carell, Keira Knightley, Melanie Lynskey

Mankind counts down the last 21 days to the day an asteroid will hit and destroy the world. This isn’t the usual action-packed drama with heroes scrambling for a last-minute way out, “this isn’t Noah’s Ark, it’s the Titanic” – to quote from the movie. Scriptwriter / director Lorene Scafaria imagined what last-minute choices and use of their time people would make when faced with certain catastrophe – and finds humor in it, be it “business as usual”, suicide, or anything else. Forty-something Dodge (Steve Carell) and his 28-year old neighbor Penny (Keira Knightly) take the more conventional approaches: he wants to declare his love to his high-school flame; she wants to go home to join her family. To accomplish this they team up for a not-so-conventional road trip.

In difference to Steve Carell’s Dodge, Knightley’s Penny is ill-conceived and misdirected. Except for the predictably ensuing romance, one kept wondering where the director was going with this – and finally just wished someone would speed up the countdown. (Carola A)