The movie’s funniest touches are quiet flashes of character, expertly timed and nimbly played by a deft ensemble. It’s a Disaster is consistently funny, but you wince more often than you laugh out loud. It’s like a Christopher Guest improvisational farce with the volume turned down to 5.
Even though this movie was made in 2013, it takes on a new meaning today. A quartet of friends and their partners gather for brunch. Drama ensues from the outset and relationships start to crackle. It intensifies when they discover that a dirty bomb has gone off and they must seal themselves in the house to avoid horrible death. This heightened situation pulls out secrets, confessions and new conflicts, but the script manages to keep a dark comic edge. The cast includes familiar names like America Ferrera, David Cross and Julia Stiles and all of the actors create interesting characters. Even with the apocalyptic scenario, this isn't a sci-fi thriller, but an enjoyable and suitably clever encounter with a group of friends facing their final minutes.
It’s A Disaster is lively and assured before a third-act twist takes the film in an even more bracingly bleak direction. The twist is one tonal shift too many, but the film otherwise manages to find the levity, as well as the pathos, in the prospect of total annihilation.
The movie elicits knowing smiles more than laughs, even as it reveals a boundless observational awareness about the beefs and slights that, for the small-minded, must feel like everyday Armageddons.
Berger’s got some clever ideas, but he does not push far in exploring them. And aside from Cross, there is virtually no one to like among these self-involved suburbanites. After an hour alone with them, we can’t help wishing The End would just arrive.
Berger’s script is little more than a series of contrived comic vignettes that prevent the actors from creating believable characters, forcing them to contort to fit the low-rent farce.
This movie is streaming on Netflix, perfect place to see it. I probably would have liked it a lot less if I'd spent money on it. But it was a great Friday night movie with my significant other. Lots of laughs in the movie, mixed with relationship issues that everyone has encountered one time or another.
A solid script and overall good performances that made me laugh several times leads to a mild recommendation. You do wonder if you would act remotely the way these characters do in their situation. My guess not likely.
Production Company
Vacationeer Productions,
Attainment Media Group,
ARM Entertainment (II),
Gordon Bijelonic / Datari Turner Films,
Midwinter Studios,
Tip-Top Productions