“This Is the End” Uses All-Star Cast to its Advantage

From time to time Hollywood provides us with a movie that has a “can’t miss cast”, one loaded with talented actors and comedians but absent of an interesting story or plot. However, Hollywood bucked that trend with the new film “This Is the End”, a movie about some of the biggest actors in 2013 trying to survive the end of days.The movie starts out with actor Jay Baruchel (all of the actors played “themselves” in the movie) flying in to Los Angeles and meeting with best friend Seth Rogen, who promises Jay to avoid the L.A. lifestyle that he despises and just relax for the weekend. However, Seth soon changes his plans and instead takes Jay to James Franco’s house-warming party, where almost every notable star is currently partying, including Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Emma Watson, Rihanna, Aziz Ansari, Kevin Hart, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin from “Superbad”) and Michael Cera, who SPOILER ALERT plays a character that is the exact opposite of his norm.

Just when it seems like it’s all fun and games for these celebrities, all hell literally breaks loose, leading to several “fatalities”, as Jonah Hill later says, which strands Jonah, Jay, Seth, James, Craig, and a previously passed out Danny McBride in what’s left of Franco’s new house. What ensues is about an hour and a half of absurdity, stupidity, and at times downright raunchiness, which are all perfect ingredients for this type of movie.

“This Is the End” will never be confused as a smart comedy or a movie that makes you think, but at no point does it attempt to look that way; the actors involved are known for making stupid but wildly hilarious movies, and that is exactly what was produced in this one. Jay and Seth do a really good job at playing the best friends duo, as they work through some of their disagreements to try and make it out alive, but Danny McBride and Michael Cera undoubtedly steal the show in this film, taking advantage of the limited time that they have on the screen to provide several moments that are laugh-until-your-side-hurts funny.

To truly enjoy “This Is the End”, you must still have your teenage sense of humor intact, because there are plenty of jokes that rival those told, heard, and repeated during our high school years. If you still find lines that others your age may deem “immature” as very funny, then I guarantee you will enjoy “This Is the End”; if you shake your head at comedians that try to get laughs by saying things that are downright dirty, then you may want to ask yourself why you considered seeing a movie starring and directed by Seth Rogen in the first place.