Seth Rogen: Seth Rogen
James Franco: James Franco
Craig Robinson: Craig Robinson
Danny McBride: Danny McBride
Jonah Hill: Jonah Hill
Emma Watson: Emma Watson
Michael Cera: Michael Cera
Columbia Pictures presents a
film written and directed by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg. Based on the short
film “Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse” by Jason Stone. Running time: 107 min.
Rated R (for crude and sexual content throughout, brief graphic nudity,
pervasive language, drug use and some violence).
Do you ever go to one of
these summer block buster CGI extravaganza action disaster flicks and wonder
how would the people who play these characters in movies react if they were
really thrown into the events depicted in the movies they make? Well, “This Is
the End” is the unexpected self-deprecating answer to that question from a
group of actors who are all too well aware of the absurdity of their own
stardom.
Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen,
James Franco, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Jonah Hill, and Michael Cera all
pretty much came from the same acting camp. It was the Apatow School of Losers and
Stoners (my name for producer Judd Apatow’s revolving company of actors), which
trained audiences to respond to a certain type of actor that was not the
typical movie or television star. These guys were the guys that worshiped “Star
Wars” and “Star Trek” before they were cool and played Dungeons & Dragons
in their parents’ basement while Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was tackling
quarterbacks at the University of Miami.
Rogen and Franco started out
on Apatow’s stoner high school comedy “Freaks and Geeks”. Baruchel joined
fellow Canadian Rogen on Apatow’s next television project, the college based
comedy “Undeclared”. David Gordon Green, who directed the Apatow produced,
Rogen-penned and starring along with Franco “Pineapple Express”, discovered
McBride a few years earlier. The same film made McBride and Robinson stars on
the same level as the other two. Hill and Cera came to prominence starring in another
of Rogen’s Apatow-produced screenplays, the autobiographical “Superbad”. All
but Cera appeared in Apatow’s most critically acclaimed movie, “Knocked Up”.
I compiled that list because
“This Is the End” works a little better if you know who these people are and
how they fit together. That’s because they are all playing versions of
themselves in this movie. Hopefully, none of them are the terrible people they
present themselves as in this movie, but that does make them infinitely more
entertaining. Gene Siskel once said that the true measure of a good movie was
whether it was better than a documentary about the same actors having lunch
together. I imagine what is depicted in “This Is the End” probably came from a
lunch these actors had together.
Written and directed by
Rogen and his constant collaborating partner Even Goldberg, from a 2007 short
film titled “Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse”, “This Is the End” pulls no
punches on its own stars as they are depicted as petty, self-righteous,
back-stabbing, self-described assholes. Kudos to Michael Cera for allowing
himself to be depicted as the most deplorable and creepy of the bunch. The film
depicts the actual Apocalypse, when those who are worthy are taken up to heaven
and those who are left either immediately perish or must endure hell on Earth
until they are taken to hell or redeem themselves. These guys survive the
initial collapse of humanity thanks to the impenetrable fortress that is
Franco’s ridiculous Hollywood house, but they must survive each other or face
the scorched earth of the outside.
As is usually the case with
most of these guys’ films, there are a great many jokes about drugs and
masturbation. Each actor takes a different role in the group. Baruchel is the
closest thing the film has to a hero. He doesn’t like the Hollywood scene and
doesn’t like any of his old friend Rogen’s new Hollywood friends. Rogen is the
ever friend to everybody. He’s the peacekeeper, the non-wavemaker. He takes no
stance. Franco is the out of touch artist. He displays trophies from his movies
as if they make him some sort of war hero. Hill is the nice guy, who is so nice
he seems disingenuous. It makes sense that he’s the one who gets possessed by a
demon. Robinson is the one who just seems to be trying to survive by doing the
right thing. It takes him a while to realize he’s supposed to do the right
thing for others instead of himself. And McBride, is the Danny McBride
character, the total jerk who nobody really likes. He wasn’t even invited.
This is a film that is made
for a film buff. There are countless references made to other films. Mostly the
films referenced are those these actors were in. To pass the time they make a
sequel to “Pineapple Express”. They understand which films didn’t work, as they
all agree that a sequel to “Your Highness” would be a bad idea. Many other
films are referenced throughout, and I’m sure a second viewing would be
rewarding for the true cineaste.
There are other stars in the
movie, although most of them perish quite quickly. Emma Watson, of “Harry
Potter” fame, has one of the few extended roles. Channing Tatum shows up for a
late film cameo. And, just about every other actor from the Apatow company shows
up for his or her death scenes. Jason Segel, Paul Rudd, David Krumholtz,
Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mindy Kaling, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Martin Starr,
and even pop singer Rihanna show up to die terribly. It’s a veritable who’s who
of who isn’t who in Hollywood.
Warning! Red Band trailer contains pervasive language.
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