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SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLDMovie Reviews
Comedy about a man who takes a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart as an asteroid approaches Earth. Cast:Steve Carell, Connie Britton, Rob Corddry, Keira Knightley, Adam Brody, Gillian JacobsDirector:Lorene ScafariaRelease Date:June 22, 2012DVD Release:October 23, 2012From:Focus FeaturesRating:RLength:1 hr 34 min
OCTOBER 23, 2012
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Good (Not Great) Reviews, Mixed
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World played to good not great reviews. Reviews were mixed. • Marc Mohan wrote in the Portland Oregonian, "...predictable, contrived, sappy and, ultimately, against all odds, remarkably fulfilling.... moments of real pathos and beauty emerge..." • And Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote in Entertainment Weekly, "...odd to the point of fascination..." More Reviews Below...
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Positive Reviews (47 Reviews, reviews below)
Mary Pols, Time: VERY GOOD "...touching and often quite funny.... when 'Seeking' took hold of me, completely and without warning, I was digging for tissues. It's a lovely surprise..."(See all of Mary Pols's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,076 words, 06/22/12
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Carell and Knightley have enough unexpected, opposites-attract likability and find themselves in enough strangely amusing situations to make the movie work."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 511 words, 06/21/12
Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...offbeat, wildly uneven... succeeds as a searing black comedy: As Armageddon nears, kids do shots and a TV traffic reporter chirpily declares, 'We're f -- ked.' "(See all of Mara Reinstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 129 words, 06/21/12
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: EXCELLENT(cg) "...ponders human behavior in the face of impending oblivion with an idiosyncratic, explosion-free bittersweetness... odd to the point of fascination..."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 232 words, 06/22/12
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: MODERATE(cg) "Carell and Knightley give it their bittersweet best. But I never rooted for them as a couple, never felt a chemistry in their bond."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 217 words, 06/22/12
Claudia Puig, USA Today: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a romantic comedy for people who don't like rom-coms. There's no chance of a happy ending, but its tender mercies speak volumes."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 506 words, 06/22/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "The best parts of this sweet film involve the middle stretches, when time, however limited, reaches ahead, and the characters do what they can to prevail..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 608 words, 06/22/12
James Rocchi, MSN Movies: VERY GOOD(cg) "While it doesn't break any new ground, it does cover familiar pop-culture territory with grace and style, and having Carell in the lead helps inestimably."(See all of James Rocchi's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 641 words, 06/19/12
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: VERY GOOD(cg) "...wants to say something about the human need to connect, and it does so in a convincing and satisfying way.... it has stuck with me longer than I expected."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,065 words, 06/19/12
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Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: EXCELLENT(cg) "...one of the year's most emotionally affecting movies.... belatedly succumbs to obvious conceits, but by then it's safe inside a nearly perfect shelter."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 465 words, 06/22/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...starts imploding long before the massive asteroid hurtling toward Earth is due to deliver annihilation... an ambitious misfire..."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 693 words, 06/22/12
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: WEAK(cg) "...has its laughs, but pretty much every single one of them is in the trailer.... at best, the sort of innocuously amusing comedy that would suffice as a video rental."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 526 words, 06/22/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "...has all sorts of polish and assurance. What it doesn't have is a way of making sense of its comic and dramatic strains, together, in the same movie."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 522 words, 06/22/12
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: MODERATE(cg) "...mordantly funny if ultimately uneven... Despite Scafaria's opening salvo of sharp observations and daringly grim jokes, the film eventually gives into false comfort."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 295 words, 06/22/12
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...a gentle, wistful film, a humanist rejoinder to Lars von Trier's nihilistic 'Melancholia,' the prevailing tone not bitterness but regret over lives not fully lived."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 582 words, 06/21/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "The best parts of this sweet film involve the middle stretches, when time, however limited, reaches ahead, and the characters do what they can to prevail..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 608 words, 06/22/12
Mark Holcomb, Village Voice/LA Weekly: WEAK "By turns bizarrely affectless and then prattlingly manic... What's missing is the one element any apocalypse narrative suffocates without: a sense of urgency."(See all of Mark Holcomb's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 581 words, 06/20/12
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Despite a variety of saves from little treats that come through the supporting cast, we're left with the feeling the end may be near, but not near enough."(See all of Linda Barnard's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 664 words, 06/22/12
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a disaster movie morphs into a road movie, and a black comedy into a romance comedy.... veers from trenchant to predictable, from satire to sentimentality."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 646 words, 06/22/12
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: MODERATE(cg) "...while Dodge and Penny are pleasant enough company, they don't strike sparks.... The bad news: The end of the world comes with a whimper. Worse: And two wimps."(See all of Carrie Rickey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 424 words, 06/22/12
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "...has plenty of tonal problems -- given the concept, how could it not? -- but Carell's introspective, dryly funny performance is a consistent delight."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 437 words, 06/22/12
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: EXCELLENT(cg) "...funny, affecting.... Some of it is a bit melodramatic, but that's fine... if Scafaria is guilty of playing on emotions, at least she's good at it."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 706 words, 06/22/12
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: MODERATE(cg) "Eventually the film runs out of things to do and places to send the couple, and, after one last surprise cameo by a Respected Older Actor, it settles into a rut..."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 698 words, 06/22/12
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...may be, in its own small, weird way, the most bizarrely bittersweet and oddly beautiful romance you've seen in quite awhile."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 535 words, 06/22/12
Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a strange movie.... strange because Lorene Scafaria shifts tone midway - straight from withering cynicism and apocalyptic-orgy gags to honeyed meditations..."(See all of Amy Biancolli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 376 words, 06/22/12
Soren Andersen, Seattle Times: MODERATE(cg) "...a nice little movie. Too nice, really, for its apocalyptic subject matter. Think of it as a greeting-card version of the end of times. Self-consciously winsome. Decorous."(See all of Soren Andersen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 327 words, 06/22/12
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...predictable, contrived, sappy and, ultimately, against all odds, remarkably fulfilling.... moments of real pathos and beauty emerge..."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 307 words, 06/22/12
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Steve Carell, as a whimpering white suburbanite who hunts for a lost love while the clock runs down, is a black hole that sucks the satirical juice from the movie."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 353 words, 06/22/12
Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...surprisingly rich in humor and heart.... more amusing than you might expect, and ultimately more touching than an eroding society around them deserves."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 480 words, 06/21/12
Tom Long, Detroit News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Scafaria has to work beneath the inevitable looming gloom or else chicken out, and that's a question that ultimately distracts from the characters' dramatic development."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 282 words, 06/22/12
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: MODERATE(cg) "You don't buy Carell and Knightley together for a second -- even if the world were about to end, these two would not hook up -- but the movie still forces them on us."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 517 words, 06/22/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (11 Reviews)
Mark Holcomb, Village Voice/LA Weekly: WEAK "By turns bizarrely affectless and then prattlingly manic... What's missing is the one element any apocalypse narrative suffocates without: a sense of urgency."(See all of Mark Holcomb's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 581 words, 06/20/12
Katey Rich, Cinema Blend: MODERATE(cg) "Lorene Scafaria never nails down a tone for this rambling road trip romance, tossing together some dark humor, some rom-com contrivances and some last-minute sap..."(See all of Katey Rich's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 559 words, 06/19/12
Scott Tobias, AV Club: GOOD(cg) "...there's real wisdom and honesty to the way this improvised friendship plays out, as both characters struggle to leave this mortal coil with some perspective and dignity."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 398 words, 06/21/12
Sachyn Mital, Pop Matters: MODERATE(cg) "...their prolonged journey to intimacy is not enough to stop the end of the world or create our belief in an improbable romance."(See all of Sachyn Mital's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 745 words, 06/22/12
Alison Willmore, Movieline: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...combines a deviously tragicomic take on the approaching annihilation of mankind with an irritatingly unconvincing and unnecessary love story."(See all of Alison Willmore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 881 words, 06/20/12
Andrew Schenker, Slant: WEAK(cg) "...everything here is utter fantasy... a couple not even worried that the world is ending so long as they can curl up in bed together and be, simply, banally, in love."(See all of Andrew Schenker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 654 words, 06/18/12
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: WEAK(cg) "...begins on a note of subversive satire before embracing the most boring possible take on its cataclysmic premise.... an Armageddon worth sleeping through."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 569 words, 06/22/12
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Perhaps the loveliest thing about 'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World' is how uncynical it is... Dodge and Penny retain the best of what makes us human..."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,090 words, 07/12/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...starts imploding long before the massive asteroid hurtling toward Earth is due to deliver annihilation... an ambitious misfire..."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 693 words, 06/22/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Peter Debruge, Daily Variety: POOR "...a disastrously dull take on the disaster-movie formula that chooses to spend the last three weeks of life on earth with two of its least interesting inhabitants."(See all of Peter Debruge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 741 words, 06/18/12
Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD "...enjoyably offbeat... its slightly uneven tone is redeemed by the reliably sympathetic Carell in a typically deadpan suburban everyman role."(See all of Stephen Dalton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 822 words, 06/18/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: FAIR "...starts imploding long before the massive asteroid hurtling toward Earth is due to deliver annihilation... an ambitious misfire..."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 693 words, 06/22/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: MODERATE(cg) "...tries but doesn't succeed in adding a new kind of film to the disaster-apocalyptic genre.... a semi-moving, semi-humorous, and semi-intimate journey, which is dull..."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 808 words, 06/20/12
20.5 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World's reviews are separated by an average 20.5 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (47 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Seeking a Friend for the End of the World's reviews cover 89.8% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 24,771 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 527 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Coverage, Volume & Length (47 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 13.3 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World's reviews on average broke 13.3 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (47 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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