James DePaolo first day on Wicked Channel, and he is going to review a romantic made for tv comedy, what gives? Now before I start this review, I am like the majority of males who go to a horror site, I want to see what is new and fresh in the genre. When you hear the words ” romantic” and ” comedy” mixed together, you assume chick flick. And in the case of Joy and the Apocalypse you would be dead on. I am guilty of watching romantic films with my wife and anything pixar. Going into this film, I knew nothing about it, hell I did not even know it was a romantic comedy. After 10 minutes I knew.
This film is about the last day on earth. It takes place in the morning of the day an asteroid is coming to wipe us all out. Sounds romantic and funny doesn’t it. The film centers around 3 main characters. Benjamin, Joy and Ben’s fiancee Linda. Benjamin, has built a church for Linda’s father, to help the people in the next life. Sort of a payback to God to insure a way to heaven. Linda though, is controlling, bossy and treats Ben like he is beneath her. Enter Joy, Ben’s ex from 7 years ago. Who on the magical day of the world ending sees Ben again. A lot has changed in 7 years, Ben is engaged and Joy is pregnant. They start their journey around the city sharing stories and trying to figure what went wrong between them. Along the way they encounter a lot of weird characters and situations. This is the film that asks you the question, this is your last day alive, what do you do?
This film runs about 79 minutes and it flew by. I wanted more. The first say ten to eleven minutes the movie seems unsure of where it wants to go, but after the 12 minute mark, you are into the story. The walk and conversation between the two was very well written. It was funny, it was warm and it was dare I say very romantic and sad. This film will surprise you. You will say, I wont cry..I wont cry. You will cry. Then, came the last 15 minutes. It was not supposed to work. The characters of Joy and Benjamin, the wit, the honesty and just the heartfelt emotions, made this film really gel. The ending was clever. You will not see the ending coming. And, the ending made the film really work, and that one of a kind original film.
On a scale one to ten…I love Joy’s character and her humor so much, she made this movie happen-and the ending was so amazing…9
Courtesy of James Depaolo – wickedchannel.com