This Is The End
Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco
Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Modern comedies rarely reach the grand heights of such lewd and absurd hilarity as This Is The End, (the first directing effort from Vancouvers own writing team and childhood friends Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg). It also manages to cover some new ground in the genres landscape.
In a bizarre twist, Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride and a host of others play themselves in exaggerated caricatures of their real Hollywood personas.
The whole group gathers for a massive party at Francos posh LA residence when they are suddenly confronted with a looming apocalypse outside as the surrounding hills are engulfed in flames, people are whisked into the sky by a strange blue light and massive sinkholes appear out of nowhere swallowing A-listers by the plenty.
Once the dust settles, the six friends must ration the rest of the food in the house and find out just what the hell is going on outside.
To call some of the humour crass is an understatement; youve been warned. The gang is grasping for new levels of Apatow-esque indecency but the jokes are so rapid fire its hard not to bust a gut every couple minutes.
Some scenes overstay their welcome and not every punchline hits the mark but This Is The End is a hidden gem, a bizarre and frequently funny collection of Hollywood stereotypes laced with self-parody wrapped in a buddy flick that examines what happens to once-great friends when they begin to drift apart.
