Even while watching the film unfold before one’s eyes, it is hard to believe that This is the End exists. Not necessarily because the humor is so ludicrously silly and completely unhinged at every possible turn – though I certainly cannot pinpoint the last time I encountered a big studio comedy this ruthlessly deranged – but because in addition to being screamingly funny, the film’s larger ambitions are surprisingly high, and it executes pretty spectacularly on just about everything it sets out to do.