When & Where: TCL Chinese Theatres, Hollywood, CA. December 14, 2021 6:30 PM
Available to stream now on Netflix
Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy student at Michigan State University, discovers a previously undetected asteroid. With her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy's (Leonardo DiCaprio) assistance, they realize that not only is it on course to collide with the planet in six months but the impact will wipe out mankind. Panicked and unsure of what to do next, they first contact Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), who presents their finding to his contacts at NASA, leading them to be whisked off to the White House.
But their discovery is not a high priority and when the scientists finally meet with President Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep) to inform her of Earth's impending doom, she is more concerned about how this could effect her poll numbers. The snarky Chief of Staff, Jason Orlean (Jonah Hill), who is also the President's son, offers no help, with the official decision to put this information on hold and re-access at a later date.
With this disturbing news, Kate and Dr Mindy decide to go another route by leaking the story to the media. They make an appearance on a morning talk show with the smiling, vapid hosts, Jack Bremmer (Tyler Perry) and Brie Evantee (Cate Blanchett). But the only thing that's accomplished is Kate's on-air meltdown going viral and Brie flirts aggressively with the married Dr. Mindy. And after President Orlean becomes involved in a sex scandal, she decides to use this leaked news of the threat to divert attention from her disgraceful story and for political gain.
As a filmmaker, Adam McKay doesn't naturally gravitate towards subtlety. Beginning his career as a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade improv group, he became the head writer on "Saturday Night Live" in 1996 before moving on to write and direct the Will Ferrell comedies, "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy", "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" and "Step Brothers", McKay likes his humor boisterously wild and silly, bordering on slapstick. But over time he has toned down his base comedic instincts and began to make more introspective films on subjects that were important to him, with a compelling desire to inform and entertain.
With "Don't Look Up", McKay's focus is on the evils of capitalism, the dangers of unregulated big tech, the continuous inaction on climate change and how the news media has been corrupted by corporations. I think the dark comedic tone works at first yet as the film progresses, becoming more serious and somber, the blunt force delivery of these complicated ideas overwhelms and feels sermonizing.
After his amazing performance in "The Wolf of Wall Street", DiCaprio has proven to be a naturally gifted comedian and he really should do more comedies. In the film, the actor brilliantly captures this frazzled scientist who is thrusted in to the limelight, overwhelmed by the attention. As a young woman trying to cope with her imminent end, Lawrence is comically frantic yet resolved. The always dependable Blanchett is hilarious as a career-focused, Fox News-styled television anchor. While President Orlean's political affiliation is not explicitly revealed, it's quite obvious that from her deep self-involvement and red baseball cap which side of the aisle she's on. Streep is great fun to watch as she effortlessly captures the causal menace of this President. There are also notable appearances by Timothée Chalamet, pop-star, Ariana Grande and Mark Rylance as Sir Peter Isherwell, a tech billionaire who at first plans to send a spacecraft to knock the comet off course before discovering he could make money if it actually lands on Earth.
But their discovery is not a high priority and when the scientists finally meet with President Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep) to inform her of Earth's impending doom, she is more concerned about how this could effect her poll numbers. The snarky Chief of Staff, Jason Orlean (Jonah Hill), who is also the President's son, offers no help, with the official decision to put this information on hold and re-access at a later date.
With this disturbing news, Kate and Dr Mindy decide to go another route by leaking the story to the media. They make an appearance on a morning talk show with the smiling, vapid hosts, Jack Bremmer (Tyler Perry) and Brie Evantee (Cate Blanchett). But the only thing that's accomplished is Kate's on-air meltdown going viral and Brie flirts aggressively with the married Dr. Mindy. And after President Orlean becomes involved in a sex scandal, she decides to use this leaked news of the threat to divert attention from her disgraceful story and for political gain.
As a filmmaker, Adam McKay doesn't naturally gravitate towards subtlety. Beginning his career as a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade improv group, he became the head writer on "Saturday Night Live" in 1996 before moving on to write and direct the Will Ferrell comedies, "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy", "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" and "Step Brothers", McKay likes his humor boisterously wild and silly, bordering on slapstick. But over time he has toned down his base comedic instincts and began to make more introspective films on subjects that were important to him, with a compelling desire to inform and entertain.
With "Don't Look Up", McKay's focus is on the evils of capitalism, the dangers of unregulated big tech, the continuous inaction on climate change and how the news media has been corrupted by corporations. I think the dark comedic tone works at first yet as the film progresses, becoming more serious and somber, the blunt force delivery of these complicated ideas overwhelms and feels sermonizing.
After his amazing performance in "The Wolf of Wall Street", DiCaprio has proven to be a naturally gifted comedian and he really should do more comedies. In the film, the actor brilliantly captures this frazzled scientist who is thrusted in to the limelight, overwhelmed by the attention. As a young woman trying to cope with her imminent end, Lawrence is comically frantic yet resolved. The always dependable Blanchett is hilarious as a career-focused, Fox News-styled television anchor. While President Orlean's political affiliation is not explicitly revealed, it's quite obvious that from her deep self-involvement and red baseball cap which side of the aisle she's on. Streep is great fun to watch as she effortlessly captures the causal menace of this President. There are also notable appearances by Timothée Chalamet, pop-star, Ariana Grande and Mark Rylance as Sir Peter Isherwell, a tech billionaire who at first plans to send a spacecraft to knock the comet off course before discovering he could make money if it actually lands on Earth.
I laughed out loud several times throughout "Don't Look Up". Yet I was also left feeling very anxious and distressed by the conclusion. Perhaps that is what the director has intended with the goal to make people uncomfortable, forcing them to open their eyes about, in his opinion, their impending doom, one that will not require an outside force to bring us to a premature end. McKay has clearly made a left-leaning message movie that uses comedy to distract so you will pay attention. Some will definitely find "Don't Look Up" far too smug, heavy-handed, preachy and political, lacking in optimism and hope. But when hasn't a filmmaker used the medium to express their personal viewpoint and shared ideas that are important to them? "Don't Look Up" may not be the movie we want to see right now but it does contain some conversations we really should be considering right now.
