Stoner comedies are a wonderful sub-genre.В Since Caddyshack I’ve giddily waited for the next installation of puffs of smoke and increasingly silly adventures.В It’s a sub-genre that must be enjoyed with no pretensions since often these films are smarter than they”re given credit for (even if said smarts are exposed between dick jokes.)В This is the End from Directors Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg is unabashedly part of the stoner comedy cannon.В It’s a worthy addition too from the funniest writing (now directing) duo in Hollywood and is easily the best movie of the summer so far.
The movie’s conceit is simple. Jay Baruchel is visiting his best pal Seth Rogan in Hollywood (all of the actors play slightly altered versions of themselves.) Jay and Seth have been drifting apart mostly because of Jay’s massive disdain for Hollywood culture. He despises the friendships created by Seth’s success and resents him for it. So he puts up quite a fight when Seth tells him they’ll be attending a big party at James Franco’s house later that evening.
The party is a riot. Rogan and Goldberg must’ve tapped all their resources because nearly every Judd Apatow regular appears…and then some. From Jason Segal to Michael Cera to Rihanna the scene plays like an outsider’s fantasy of what a Hollywood party would be like. All of these people, of course, can’t do anything but talk about themselves and express constantly how great it is to be famous. Jay handles it for a while until he’s reached his limit which sends him and Seth on a walk to 7-11 for some cigarettes. Then…the apocalypse happens.
The remaining 1.5 hours is spent in and around the Franco mansion with the survivors (Jonah Hill, James Franco, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Seth and Jay) as they stumble through the end of days. The flimsy premise on paper seems wildly self-serving: a bunch of very successful comedians want to make a movie about themselves handling the apocalypse. Ironically, the indulgence works because the movie isn’t about these 6 actors at all. What Rogan and Goldberg have created is a meta-narrative on audience expectations of who these people are. According to tabloids James Franco is a learned scholar who enjoys painting and reading Tolstoy. So of course he has a terrible painting of Seth Rogan’s name in his house and never really reads anything in This is dgfev online casino the End. Jonah Hill is a serious actor now and in the film he constantly reminds everyone of that. It’s hysterical because we believe this horoscope cancer Aquarius sign consider freedom to be very important and he prefers to avoid anything what can be estimated as an attempt on it. is who they are and Rogan and Goldberg’s script eviscerate that expectation.
It also helps that this merry band are a blast to hang out with. Their improvisation is sharp and the actors play off each other so well because they are real-life friends. When they insult each other’s work (several grenades are lobbed at Rogan’s Green Hornet adaptation) it’s hilarious because you know they have in real life. The movie is also legitimately scary in places. Some well-timed jump scares and over-the-top gore had the audience simultaneously wheezing and covering their eyes. And just wait for the third act – it’s the craziest 30-minutes you’re bound to see in the theater this year.
I am an unwavering fan of Rogan and Goldberg. They make movies because it sounded like a fun thing to do when they were 13. They are also perpetually stuck in said 13-year old state of mind. Their humor can be sophomoric and stupid but it can also be sharp and biting satire (it’s the only movie that can make a 5-minute discussion about a Milk Way interesting.) It’s not for everyone but for me I’ll take a Rogan/Goldberg joint (literally) over another superhero movie any day. Plus, anyone that can impale Michael Cera and send Rihanna down a sinkhole in the span of 3-minutes is OK by me.
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