When you’re trying to make a movie about a group of friends attempting to relive their youth, it can get messy. Very messy. The filmmakers have to watch out for over sentimentality. Some try to hide that in comedy and almost never get it right. No worries about that here. THE WORLD’S END is almost a perfect movie. It’s hysterically funny (I’m going to have to see it again because I know I missed some lines while we in the audience was laughing), but it also has a huge heart. These five friends (Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan, Paddy Considine and Martin Freeman) return to their hometown to complete a pub crawl along the “Golden Mile”. The last pub is THE WORLD’S END. Along the way they learn about themselves and battle to save earth. Yeah, battle to save earth in a sleepy British town. This could have been an unfunny mess of a movie with rank sentimentality and melodrama. But, it’s NOT!!! It’s awesome. Pegg and Frost wrote it. Edgar Wright directed it. The results are brilliant. Every note is perfect. Pegg, Frost and Wright paid homage to zombie movies in SHAUN OF THE DEAD and buddy cop movies in HOT FUZZ. Those were great, but this is another level of excellent. This homage to sci-fi is smart and loving without making fun of the genre. That’s a hard tone to nail, but they did it here. Ok, I’ll say it. Pegg deserves to be considered for a Best Actor nomination. He is funny and touching and raw all at the appropriate time. Pegg and Frost deserve consideration for Original Screenplay and Wright for directing. Have a Cornetto and enjoy what may be the best movie I’ve seen all summer and the most fun I’ve had in a theater in more than a year. — Alan Yudman

Raise your glasses and toast the funniest movie of the year! From the beginning to the “End”, this pub crawling end of the world comedy does what seemed to be impossible: deliver more laughs than both “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”! When Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright work together, it’s magic. When they don’t, you get “Paul” or “Scott Pilgrim vs The World”. Pegg’s script and performance coupled with Wright’s unique direction make this a hilarious ride. No hangover here, this one is classic!

Stormy Curry