Any 'Friend' of Steve, Keira is worth watching

Penny (Keira Knightley) and Dodge (Steve Carell) are opposites who come together on a mission to reunite her with her parents and him with his long-lost love. (Credit: By Darren Michaels, Focus Features)

Sometimes when a film meanders, it can be exactly on point.

If the tale is about the impending apocalypse, it makes sense to try to cover a lot of ground, even if it seems aimless.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (* * * ½ out of four, rated R, opens Friday nationwide) takes a few worthwhile detours to reach its poignant end. By its conclusion, we see that those turns in the road were essential in helping us empathize with and root for the lead characters.

If the performances of Steve Carell and Keira Knightley weren't so superb, director Lorene Scafaria's wryly funny screenplay might not have been enough to captivate audiences. But with their combined efforts, the tale of two ordinary people thrust into an extraordinary situation is wonderfully poetic, though still grounded in reality.

The film is set in the near future when an asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. Scientists' final attempt to counter its cataclysmic crash has failed. The end is all too near.

But Dodge (Carell), a mild-mannered insurance salesman, continues to go into his office and carry out his daily routine with joyless determination. Only a smattering of employees rattle around. At a meeting, a supervisor asks "Anyone want to be CFO?'' In the opening scene, his wife leaves him, bolting from a car following a breaking news report announcing Earth's demise in 21 days.

The aptly named Dodge resists the efforts of his friends to draw him into reckless behavior. "Sarah and Dave brought heroin," Diane (Connie Britton) gleefully announces at a party. It seems plausible that all bets would be off when it comes to illegal or dangerous pursuits. Dodge, however, has never been the carpe diem sort.

His neighbor Penny (Knightley) is Dodge's polar opposite. She's sprightly and adorable, with a wistful quality underlying her extroversion. But in her flightiness, she forgets to pass on a letter to Dodge mistakenly delivered to her. When Penny learns that it was from his first love and might have changed his life, she's determined to rectify her mistake.

Dodge's inherent decency — heightened by the urgency of riots breaking out — propels him to offer a sort of last-days trade: As Penny pledges to help him seek out his long-lost love, he'll help her get to England to see her parents. Only in such an extreme situation would these two people come together, but they do in a way that is poignant and hopeful amid the bleak scenario.

TV news provides background noise. One program highlights "The Best of Humanity" with a list including Jesus and Oprah.

This is a romantic comedy for people who don't like rom-coms. There's no chance of a happy ending, but its tender mercies speak volumes. It's the warmly intimate moments, the bittersweet wonder at the beauty of the world and the value of family and forgiveness that leave the deepest imprint.

It's the end of the world as Dodge and Penny know it, but for a time, they feel fine.

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