While it's a novel experience, seeing the heightened versions of all these famous actors, and it does feature some clever moments, the main issue in This Is the End is consistency. You get one moment that is laugh out loud funny, and then you wait about a half hour to 45 minutes for another one to come around again. As with most films like this, the loose construct of the script combined with the tendency of the actors improvise creates a movie that was probably unbelievably fun to make, but is spotty and slightly incoherent for viewers. While the film begins with a hilarious game of Spot the Celeb at James Franco's house and is really going strong for the first 45 minutes or so, it quickly fizzles out once the main cast is alone in the house together. Despite injections from solid supporting characters (Emma Watson is a particular highlight), it becomes clear they have no intentions but to do drugs and improvise the rest of the film, with only a fraction of the jokes being thrown out actually landing.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
