This is the End

The use of characters playing themselves in modern day film and television is a format which I feel I should hate, but often end up loving. A perfect example of this was when I found out that the co-creator of Seinfeld – Larry David – had created a follow up sitcom where he played a heightened version of himself. Curb Your Enthusiasm sounded like a multimillionaire man giving himself a great big pat on the back by writing 10 episodes a year of him living his luxurious life. How could such a show connect with its audiences when David was a stupidly rich individual who could have pretty much anything he wanted? It sounded smug and shit. But then I watched it and realised just how wrong I was. Curb Your Enthusiasm turned out to be one of my favourite sitcoms. The show’s dialogue was all improvised; giving David and his co-stars the freedom to take set pieces into all sorts of weird and wonderful directions. Both David and the rest of Curb’s cast were on fire; coming out with some of the crudest and funniest lines ever imaginable in a televised show.

Since the uprising of Curb Your Enthusiasm, many other television shows have attempted to extract success from this very format; taking a number of celebrities and creating fictional/documentary hybrids. The blending of reality and fantasy have been quite a popular breed of comedy ever since Ricky Gervais made the world a brighter place with The Office, yet Larry David has stepped up the game somewhat; pulling real life individuals further down the rabbit hole of fiction (a move that Gervais also decided to toy around with in Extras and Life's too Short).

Regardless of my love for Curb however, each time one of these shows or films makes its way into the world, I always expect it to be a disaster. If not done properly, then it would be all too easy to end up with a show/film which just continuously praises the characters at the center of its story. The problem with celebrities is that the general public don’t usually like them. It is obvious that they have problems and hurt just like the rest of us, however their public persona gives many the impression that they live in a world of gold and happiness. They are rich, have big houses, fancy cars, beautiful partners and get to dine in the finest restaurants. If you are making a show about someone with that kind of life, then it can be all too easy to alienate the casual viewer.

When I saw the trailer for This is the End several weeks back, once again I was convinced that this would be the case. The comedic team of Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jonan Hill and co have always been a group who I’ve never possessed much of a liking toward. Yes, at times I do find each one funny in some way or another, but over all I find their style exceedingly tiring. The Judd Apatow inspired body of work is always the same old hogwash; jokes about male genitalia, jokes about smoking shit loads of pot and jokes about watching pornography. It’s incredibly adolescent and grows very repetitive after a while. That’s not to say that I don’t like these guys. Sometimes I do find myself enjoying some of their movies, but I really have to be in the right kind of mood. On the plus side, they are far funnier in my opinion than Adam Sandler and his pathetic line-up (for the record, I absolutely despise Adam Sandler and his movies. Honestly, the very thought that such a guy makes a boat load of money year after year pretty much clarifies to me that there is no God).

The main problem with my semi-neutral stance on the adolescent humour of team Rogan meant that I was immensely skeptical about this film. So skeptical in fact that I didn’t plan on seeing this one at all. The only reason why I found myself viewing it was because on Thursday night a bunch of friends who I hadn’t seen for a while turned up at my house. I have spent the past several weeks locked in my house, only ever communicating with the outside world during work office hours, so it was nice to finally have a conversation with individuals who I genuinely like as human beings. When they invited me to the cinema that very same evening, I thought I might as well go along and attempt to keep our friendship alive. When I found out that we were seeing This is the End however, I sighed under my breath. Was I about to pay £10 to see Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jonan Hill and co pat themselves on the back for two bloody hours? Please don’t let this be so.

But guess what? I actually enjoyed this film. It was certainly nothing special, but I actually laughed an awful lot during this feature. So ok, the genital/weed/porn humor is all very much there, but this time I just sat back and accepted it for what it was. The main reason for this, I think, is that the film really does not take itself seriously at all. It knows what it is and what it’s doing and just doesn’t give a damn about that fact. I was never under the impression that the film was trying desperately to be funny. Instead, it was just cracking jokes which the writers and actors found funny; giving it a much more relaxed feel. Yes the humor was just as crude and as immature as Superbad, but so what? The film was having fun with itself. It was catering to that very audience and was not at all self conscious in doing so.

As for the whole fiction/reality hybrid of characters playing themselves, I think it worked quite well in this film. The BBC Radio Five Live critic Mark Kermode was of the opinion that the feature was just one big self congratulatory festival for the stars of the film, but I guess I have to disagree here. Rogan, Franco and team seem to be quite happy to rip their previous bodies of work to shreds and ridicule one another in a fun and light hearted way. Characters attack Rogan for his lack of acting diversity, they ironically declare that acting is a ‘talent’ and James Franco even makes a vicious remark toward the horrific Your Highness. There’s also a great scene where Rogan and Franco dream up a plot for a sequel to Pineapple Express whilst getting high; which they later go on to film whilst drugged up to the eyeballs. The use of Pineapple Express 2 is incredibly self-deprecating and addresses all the flaws that critics have pointed out about such works. Films like the Pineapple Express do often appear to be features which have been dreamed up by intoxicated minds, so to see the actual creators dreaming up such concepts in this film is both funny and potentially honest.

But these self-attacks are not constructive or intellectual forms of criticism. The film isn’t trying to say something interesting or eye opening about these films; instead it is nothing more than simplistic name calling between the leading actors of this film. No one is taking any of this seriously and no one should. The cast are just trying to have as much fun as they possibly can with the script and it would appear that this is exactly what they're having. Everyone seems to be having a great time filming this; playing around and insulting one another. It is the Hollywood equivalent of a bunch of mates getting drunk and teasing one another. No one is here to push the envelop or make a statement; they are simply here to have a bit of fun with one another.

The idea that the cast are just mucking about may very well be what makes this film a joy to watch, but it’s also slightly problematic in several ways. First of all, the fact that the film doesn’t really have anything to say makes the whole experience feel little empty. The basic setup of this feature revolves around a bunch comedic actors being themselves whilst the world ends around them. The backdrop has absolutely no purpose in the story. It’s just there. It may drive the plot forward, but it really does have no impact on the overall theme. This makes the whole film come across as yet another stoned idea which was conjured up by Mr Rogan. The joke revolving around Pineapple Express 2 almost feels like the reality of This is the End. Seeing as the whole rapture backdrop turns out to be pretty pointless, the story quickly runs out of steam; meaning that the film has to rely on the stars for a majority of its run. This is not a film about the end of the world, but about a group of adolescent guys firing jokes back and forth.

But what the heck, as I mentioned before, I laughed a lot in this film and I enjoyed it more than I ever expected to. The film may be a little pointless and childish, but I liked watching these guys enjoying themselves whilst they made a movie. Because despite what I may say about cinema, the enjoyment of making a film can be just as pleasant as enjoying the experience of film itself. In a world where most movies are made for money, it’s nice when we finally come across one that was made for fun (though saying that, I’m certain that this film was made with money firmly in mind, but I’m just going to ignore that fact for a little while).

Or maybe this film was a crock of shit. Maybe it was just nice to get out of the house once in a while and the good mood of seeing old friends meant that I was pretty much open to any form of comedy. I mean I did briefly chuckle at Vince Vaughn gag during one of the trailers, which never happens, ever…