Writer: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike
Tomatometer: 90/88/80 (all critics, top critics, audience)
Spoiler-free Summary: Gary King is a drunk man-child. His happiest memory involves a somewhat legendary, yet unfinished, pub crawl that took place 20 years earlier. In an attempt to recapture his glory days, Gary rounds up his four former mates for a second stab at the “Golden Mile”.
Two Cents: There are two types of comedies in Hollywood. Most comedies fall into the lowbrow bin (Happy Gilmore, Old School, Caddyshack, etc.). A few can be considered highbrow (just about anything from the Coen brothers, Wes Anderson, or Woody Allen). Somehow, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have managed to carve out a third category – hybrow, a hybrid of the two brows. I could have gone with “unibrow“, but that’s already taken.
Sure, if we discussed it for a few minutes, we’d come up with a few other films that could be considered a perfect cross between low and highbrow humor, but I’d argue that most of those films, more likely, are either low-end highbrow or high-end lowbrow. In the interest of saving time, let’s get back to the task at hand.
It takes a true genius to turn a debaucherous pub crawl into a piercing look at middle age. Luckily, this movie had a few geniuses pulling its strings. Simon Pegg is probably most recognizable for his supporting role in the two most recent Star Trek movies and the last two Mission: Impossible installments. However, that’s just a watered-down and Hollywoodified version of the British actor. The real Pegg only comes out to play when he’s teamed up with his pals Edgar Wright and Nick Frost. In three films together, this trio has reached a level of writer-director-actor chemistry that is extremely rare in today’s Hollywood landscape. DiCaprio and Scorsese have it, Burton and Depp have it, but there aren’t many others. (Note: Technically, The World’s End is part of a trilogy, which also includes Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but each of the three movies can stand firmly on its own. I prefer to look at them as separate films, simply because I want more!)
No matter what ridiculous scenes might show up in a script, the most humorous part of any comedy is its dialogue. If the dialogue doesn’t feel natural and witty, a comedy has no chance at being truly funny. Dialogue is what separates a movie from a YouTube clip. The World’s End is oozing with clever and hilarious lines layered with boatloads of subtext, the mark of truly gifted writers. Still, the movie never gets bogged down in being funny. The 12 pubs on the crawl serve as a spectacular device for briskly moving the story forward and creating believable opportunities for the introduction of supporting characters.
I don’t want to give away any plot points, so I’ll keep this review brief. The acting is great, the jokes are top-notch, and there’s even a surprise visit from Bill Nighy’s voice. What more could you want?
Should I/Shouldn’t I: You may feel ill-equipped to watch The World’s End, if you haven’t yet seen Shaun and Fuzz. Rest assured, that won’t make much of a difference. If you’ve been waiting for a truly funny comedy that doesn’t rely exclusively on “toilet humor” and the f-word, but still makes you long for your teenage years, this is it.
Sundae Rating: Two scoops with whipped cream
Sunday Morning Screenings 