Film: This Is The End

Director: Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
Genre: Comedy
Source: USA (2013)
Rating: R
Location/Format: Regal Cinemas
Grade: B-

I really do think Seth Rogen is funny, perhaps a 21st century comic mastermind, and he has the good sense to surround himself with hilarious people. But at a certain point, if you're lifestyle doesn't center fully around weed and partying, then movies all about weed and  partying get a little tiresome. This Is the End is funny, yes, but also tiresome, and ultimately I left the theater entertained but unsatisfied.

Rogen and his writing partner, Evan Goldberg, have a lot of fun playing up caricatures of themselves, and I do have to wonder just how close these characters are to the actual individuals for whom they are named. I know Michael Cera, for example, is a complete reversal of his normal personality (at least according to everyone who has interviewed or worked with him ever), but what about Rogen and James Franco? Are they still the goofy dweebs they portray themselves to be--just goofy dweebs with boatloads of money? Is Danny McBride always an ass or does he just play one really well? And just how obsessed is James Franco with himself and with Rogen? All of those questions are mined for some solid comedy. The film also works in a few apocalyptic parodies that made me chuckle (as well as roll my eyes at the childish inclusion of penises)--particularly the Rosemary's Baby tribute, if only because I had just watched that film a few weeks ago.

That reliance on the over-the-top gross out humor has worn a little thin with me, however. Some of the funniest moments in the film take those gross-outs to extremes (the fight between Franco and terrible house guest Danny McBride over a dirty magazine was so filthy that I couldn't not laugh), but Rogen and his crew also seem to think that the mere sight of a penis is still hilarious. I guess it is if you're fifteen, which might be the target audience, but at 34 it starts to get old. It's a little bit lazy, when there are so many more clever moments throughout.

The film has some great twists and some dumb twists, and there was plenty to be entertained by. Perhaps I was just disappointed because so many others have talked about it as though it were the greatest comedy in the last few years, and it is not. The overall "moral of the story" (be nice) is itself pretty lame. But still, there were things to enjoy here, and I enjoyed them. A little self-parody goes along way, and if they miss on a lot of the jokes, these guys at least know how to make fun of themselves.

Alternate Film Title: "Cameos! Cameos for Everyone!"