Day 106: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Hearing that the world is going to end in 21 days, Dodge’s (Steve Carell) wife decides now is the time to leave him. After he finally get 3 years worth of mail back from his neighbour Penny (Keira Knightley), he finds that his high school sweetheart wrote to him saying that he was the love of her life and he decides he is going to see her before the world ends. Penny helps him on his journey because she feels guilty that she didn’t give him the letter months before. And in return he offers to get her on a plane that will take her back to her family. But then love happens and changes their plans somewhat.

Penny missed the last planes and is devastated that she can’t get back to England to be with her family, so when Dodge says he knows someone with a plane, the two set off. He is annoyed with her to begin with because he didn’t get to be with his high school sweetheart this whole time due to Penny having the letter but he warms to her quite quickly. After escaping from a drug-induced orgy, the two then have sex in their truck. She tells him she wants him to be her last. They get to know each other and both come to care for each other. He puts her on a plane while she’s asleep so that she can get back to her family even though it means he’ll be without her. And once she comes to, she demands to be taken back to him. So they spend their last minutes together.

Think about how important that must be, to have someone want to be with you at the end of the world. You would be the last person they’d ever see or talk to, and they would want to be with you. I just think that’s amazing. If you’ve got someone who wants to be with you at the end I’d say you’ve hit it big there.

Really loved this film, it made me so upset. This is their last conversation and he tries to keep her calm during the end of the world.

Penny:  I don’t want to fall asleep, OK? Don’t let me fall asleep. Promise.

Dodge:  I promise. What about your parents?

Penny:  They’re romantics, they understand. Besides they’ve got each other and I just want to be with you.

Dodge:  I want to be with you.

Penny:  I couldn't live without you. No matter how long. What do we do now?

Dodge: I just want to lie here with you. I just want to talk to you.

Penny:  What are we going to talk about?

Dodge:  Where’d you grow up?

Penny:  I was born in Surrey, my whole family are from there. My mum was a journalist before she married my dad. They never fought, or at least, we never heard them fight. Charlie’s the oldest then Benny then me. We had a sister but she died when she was born. I still think about her. Oh god.

Dodge:  What was her name? What was your sister’s name?

Penny:  Patricia. Patricia Hope Lockheart.

Dodge: That’s beautiful. That’s a beautiful name.

Penny:  I wish I’d met you a long time ago when we were kids.

Dodge:  It couldn’t have happened any other way. It had to happen now.

Penny:  But it isn’t enough time.

Dodge:  It never would’ve been.

Penny:  I’m scared.

Dodge:  I am madly in love with you, Penny. You are my favourite, favourite thing.

Penny:  I thought that somehow we’d save each other.

Dodge:  We did. Penny, I’m really glad I got to know you.

9/10

Day 60: Definitely, Maybe

Will (Ryan Reynolds) is going through a divorce and when his daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin) comes to stay, she wants to hear the story of how he met her mum. But in telling that story, he has to tell her the story of all three of the women he has loved in his life. (Don’t read the rest of this if you don’t want the mystery spoiled for you.)

His first serious relationship was with Sarah (Elizabeth Banks). They were college sweethearts and the plan was that they would move in together and get married and spend the rest of their lives together. Quite a common plan for college sweethearts, so the films tell me. But he goes off to pursue his career and in the time that he is gone she realises that this plan is too big for her and that she can’t be with him. So they go their separate ways. Years later they are thrown together again and they realise the time for them is now. And they get married and have Maya. I love the phone thing that they do. When she gives him her number and he phones her immediately while she’s standing in front of him. I think that’s the cutest, always love it when it happens.

When he was heading off to pursue his career, Sarah gave him a diary to give to an old friend of hers, Summer (Rachel Weisz). He goes round to her apartment and is met with her boyfriend and the pair proceed to get very drunk, so drunk in fact that he passes out. When he wakes up he sees Summer and is obviously instantly smitten because how could you not be, really. They flirt for a bit and then as he leaves she just kisses him. She’s known him all of about 5 minutes but she said she was curious (my notes: “she wakes you up and then just kisses you? Man, I am in love”). He doesn’t see her for a while but when he runs into her again she’s wearing glasses (my notes: “Oh my god”). This is definitely an important plot point and I’m not at all mentioning it just because she looks fantastic with glasses on. Not at all, it’s very important. They end up going out and having a great time, and she sings to him in the street. And I’m just falling more in love, this is basically a Rachel Weisz appreciation post, I don’t care. ANYWAY. They spend the night together and the next day when they wake up she says she has never wanted to just spend all day in bed with a guy before and just do nothing together. And then she says “Will you spend the whole day in bed with me?” and it’s just the cutest. Sadly they are not going to last; she writes a pretty damning article about Will’s boss and he leaves her because of it. Which made me so mad, I get that it’s rubbish for you because you lose your job and all that but you can’t ask her not to do her job, that’s ridiculous (my notes: “HOW ARE YOU ACTUALLY WALKING AWAY FROM HER RIGHT NOW. MORON.”)

Now, interspersed with his relationship with both Sarah and Summer, Will was friends with April (Isla Fisher). They both clearly like each other but it’s never the right time because they’re with other people, or they're in different countries. She tells him that when she was 13 her Dad got her a copy of Jane Eyre and wrote a beautiful inscription on the inside but that the book was lost, and she now tries to find it in every bookshop she comes across. Wanting to travel the world she goes off but they stay friends throughout her time away, sending postcards and letters to each other, and while she’s gone he reads Jane Eyre. While she’s gone and is kissing some guy, she realises that the person she wants to be with is Will so she comes home to tell him but finds that he is going to propose to Summer. That puts kind of a dampener on things but a while later she tries to rekindle their friendship and sets up a big party for his birthday. He’s been having a rough time; he left Summer (moron), and he lost his job. He gets drunk and bails on the party but April is understanding. Then he tells her he loves her and tries to kiss her but he’s wasted and a mess so April tells him to stop, which is clearly the best thing. But he doesn’t react well and tells her she is wasting her life and she is obviously hurt so sends him away.

One day he finds the copy of Jane Eyre she has spent her life looking for. He goes to give her it but he meets her current boyfriend and leaves without giving her the book. More than 10 years go by before he eventually gives it to her. She looks so happy to finally have it but she is understandably furious with him for not bringing it before. He thinks that’s it, that he’s missed his shot with her. But his daughter convinces him to go and see her and tell her the story. And then she’ll understand that he has always loved her.

I’m really happy he ended up with April. I mean, I don’t understand how anybody would leave Rachel Weisz but whatever, it’s a film, totally get that. But April is obviously the one he should be with and it’s great.

8/10