If you’re not a fan of Seth Rogen, of his comedies, or of the Judd Apatow Crew, then you can disregard this review. This Is The End is for those people, and it’s hilarious. It’s not high art (although James Franco might argue that it is), but it’s arguably the most fun experience I’ve had in a theater in a long time (certainly the most time I’ve laughed out loud since… PINEAPPLE EXPRESS), and I don’t remember the last time I was so energetic and boisterous walking out of a theater. My friend (your fabled editor) and I kept running through our favorite parts on the car trip home, and quickly figured out that we were just quoting the entire movie. Yeah, we were those annoying guys.
Let’s get to the movie. THIS IS THE END is an apocalypse comedy, tackling the bloating end-of-the-world tropes that litter YA book series, TV, and theaters nowadays (hell, Craig Robinson stars in another one that came out last week in RAPTURE-PALOOZA). Where better to center the end of days than the Los Angeles and Hollywood backdrop, with a bunch of goofball stars playing variant versions of themselves?
Jay Baruchel (UNDECLARED, MILLION DOLLAR BABY) returns to LA to stay with his best bud Seth Rogen (SUPERBAD, GREEN HORNET). Jay isn’t a fan of Hollywood, he doesn’t like Seth’s new friends or the new Seth, but desperately wants to bond with his old friend and grow past it, to keep that nostalgic friendship alive. I think everyone can point to a similar experience, when friends fall out, grow apart, or just cease being compatible. You wouldn’t know it from their opening interactions though, as Jay and Seth bicker about gluten, smoke copious amounts, and play video games on a 3-D TV. And that’s presumably how Seth Rogen lives his life, but then again, we kinda knew that.
Things get crazy, and heat up (conflict!), when Seth drags Jay to a Hollywood party at James Franco’s new house, where everyone is there: Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera, even Rihanna and Emma Watson are in attendance. Cameos seep out of this film’s pores like THC, so I’ll leave the rest to the imagination. Jay hates each and everyone of these stars, but the interactions and “characters” each of them inhabits is just gut-busting, ribald, ridiculous, and clever. Franco’s obsessed and in love with Seth. Jonah Hill is overly nice and obsessed with his “serious actor” persona. Craig Robinson is just the lovable black teddy bear with the world’s greatest scream (which is used to great effect). Michael Cera is a cokehead, a pervert, and an annoyance that perhaps provides the most laughs per second of any person in the film (kudos to him).
Later, when Jay and Seth go to get some supplies at a convenient store, the end of the world begins, with people sucked up into the air by blasts of big, blue light, while hellish sinkholes claim most of the Hollywood elite in the blink of an eye. The group of guys discuss what may be happening: Is it just a bad earthquake? Did the Lakers win? Is this Judgment Day? Or, are they witnessing an alien invasion? The film cleverly plays against your expectations for a while in this regard.
But where’s Danny McBride? He wasn’t invited to the party, but makes a grand entrance following the harbinger of the apocalypse, and proceeds to screw their $#*! up, essentially what we’d expect from a McBride character. As always, he steals the movie, and then kind of wears his welcome (sometimes the problem with EASTBOUND & DOWN), an adage that is played with here.
THIS IS THE END is unapologetic in its juvenile, balls-out humor. But this isn’t YOUR HIGHNESS, which makes you grimace more than laugh (if it ever did). The movie features the best semen-centric diatribe anyone ever committed to film (and I dare say that anyone ever will), a look at a hilarious “sequel” to PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, flaming genitalia, and a ton of gore, demons and movie references.
To call this film self-referential would be the opposite of hyperbole (lazybole?), but would also be missing the point, or at least the joke. The film is a legitimate apocalypse movie, but also parodies it, and you have to give each and every actor that appears credit for blatantly parodying themselves and being such good sports about it. Hardly anyone is shed in a particularly good light here, but the results make you respect them that much more, especially their gift for improvisation. Every “character” in the film shines throughout, providing buckets of laughs in the process. You can scoff at the stoner comedy subgenre and that of gross-out, immature dude comedies, but as evidenced by the evolution (a kind term) of the HANGOVER films and some of Rogen’s own movies, it’s not easy to make people laugh. And THIS IS THE END does just that consistently.
Before I discovered the Whedonverse and its stable of wonderful, inspiring actors, I grew up with Seth Rogen, James Franco, and their esteemed company in Judd Apatow’s FREAKS AND GEEKS and onward. This group clearly hasn’t grown up over the years, and for that I’m eternally grateful. In many ways, this is the touchstone film featuring the Apatow Crew, even if Judd Apatow isn’t a part of the production. Instead of Apatow behind the camera (and with it, probably a more emotional center and a half hour of screentime), Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg wrote and directed this one, highlighting that they have grown up a bit, and have a ton of comedy left in the tank.
As MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING invites you into Joss Whedon’s home and allows you to pretend at Shakespeare with your more adult heroes, THIS IS THE END invites you to the party at the end of the world with all of the people you’ve always wanted to do irresponsible things with over the years. Both are unhealthy dreams, but both premises mine great riches in entirely different ways, and you couldn’t ask me to choose between them.
- Release Date: 6/12/2013
- Running Time: 107 minutes
- Written By: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
- Directed By: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
- Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Danny McBride, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Emma Watson, Michael Cera, Rihanna, Aziz Ansari, Paul Rudd, Mindy Kaling, David Krumholtz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Martin Starr, Channing Tatum
June 12, 2013 By Andy Greene