This Is the End (2013)

It is such a typical Hollywood ego trip that screenwriters would think that the Biblical apocalypse - complete with the apocryphal Rapture - would occur in Los Angeles.  That is probably a good part of the joke that Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg were trying to make with This Is the End.  They co-directed and co-wrote, along with Jason Stone, a scenario in which a number of Hollywood celebrities get caught up in the chaos of the end times and, in typical Hollywood fashion, make it all about themselves. 

Jay Baruchel comes to Los Angeles to meet his friend Seth Rogen and hang out for a weekend.  Against his better judgment he lets Rogen talk him into going to a party thrown by James Franco.  As Baruchel doesn't really like Franco, Jonah Hill or many of the guests he becomes uncomfortable and starts talking about going back to Rogen's house on his own.  While at a convenience store the earth suddenly shakes and several people are lifted into heaven by blue lights.

At first everything continues as normal at Franco's house, but soon a sinkhole opens up and swallows most of the guests.  However, Jay, Seth, James, Jonah and Craig Robinson manage to seek refuge inside the mansion, thinking they are the only survivors.  However, the next morning, they find Danny McBride has also survived and, over the next few days, the celebrities bicker as they try to come to grips with what is happening both outside and inside as their familiar world becomes engulfed in flames and monstrous creatures. 

Rogen and Goldberg decided to see how far hey could push their friends and tried their hardest to write scenes that they would refuse to do.  At some point most of them broke, and with what is on film - McBride leading a cannibal gang, Hill being raped by a demon with a full-on reference to Rosemary's Baby - what they refused must have been extreme.  It must also have been hard to film as a good portion was improvised and there is at least one scene involving a discussion of semen in which Rogen is visibly just trying to hold himself together.

Alas, a movie like this is much more fun for the participants than the audience.  Not that this is terrible, as it was successful and has a lot of hilarious moments, many of them involving Michael Cera during the party scenes.  The problem is that this is a group of friends and, in many cases, they are standing around either venting some of their real-life issues in a humorous way or referencing things that would be funnier if one were part of their inner circle.  There are also some obvious budgetary restraints.  Most of the CGI near the end is well done but, in order to afford it, it means the audience is also stuck inside the James Franco's mansion for a good amount of the runtime of the film, and there is only so much humor that can be milked from a bunch of airheaded celebrities coming to grips with the end times.

Despite all that This Is the End is quite entertaining.  It could be a lot shorter, and the jokes aren't as funny as Pineapple Express.  Still, for a modern comedy, it manages to have some laughs, which is rare enough these days. 

This Is the End (2013)

Time: 107 minutes

Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson

Directors: Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen