Don't Look Up Review

4.0 Stars

A comet the size of Mt. Everest has been discovered by a pair of astronomers and it's what they call a planet killer.  It will impact in just over six months.  Grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) found the comet and her Professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) charted its ominous, destructive course.  Now comes the challenge of alerting those who can do something about it.

With the help of NASA's Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), they first attempt to warn US President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her incompetent son, who also happens to be her Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill).  They are more concerned with political optics than the pending doom hurling their way.  The trio are forced to seek alternative methods for spreading the word.

They start with a morning talk show with cheery, sunshine hosts Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry) who try to give a positive spin to the whole gloomy tale of apocalyptic proportions.  Some believe that the future of the planet is in danger.  Others have decided to politicize the whole event to save face and encourage the population to just "Don't Look Up".   Because if you can't see it, it isn't real.

Don't Look Up is a dark but silly satire written and directed by Adam McKay and is nominated for the Best Picture Oscar category.  McKay is no stranger to absurd comedies having directed the Anchorman movies, Step Brothers, and The Other Guys.  He's also quite familiar with the political dramedy genre with The Big Short and Vice under his belt.  

Social media influencers begin to share their own thoughts on the matter and their followers regurgitate their opinions and create opposing hashtag wars between #dontlookup and #justlookup.  And, of course, as an added plot twist, billionaire tech mogul Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance) and his team believe there to be trillions of dollars worth of important tech material.

Half a dozen years ago, this would have just been a smart, nonsensical satire like Mars Attacks meets Armageddon.  Instead of aliens coming to a planet of nitwit, incompetent leaders, it's a comet.  But considering recent political and global events, this one hits a little close to home.  Things that were once absurdly blown out of proportion for comedic effect are now seen as, "Oh yeah, that's actually how our government works."  

Don't Look Up is a smart, funny, poignant mirror of our own society that's almost difficult to watch because of how just on the nose it hits.  If you remove current political talking points like "the election was stolen" or "the Covid vaccines are not safe" or especially "Covid isn't real" and you replace them with a planet-killing comet, you have this movie.  President Orlean, who is more concerned about upcoming mid-term elections, encourages her base to just "don't look up."  It's very reminiscent of former President Trump saying that if you just don't test for Covid, there would be less cases.  For those in the future reading this, yes, that really happened.  

Without giving away the ending, everyone in the film ultimately has to make a decision on how they will spend their final hours on earth should the inevitable actually happen.  What I will say is the end is beautifully done; however, stick around as the credits start to roll for the official ending.  

I was excited to see this movie and gave it a 4.0 Star Prediction.  I was dead on with my prediction and I'm going to stick with my 4.0 Stars.  I thoroughly enjoy Don't Look Up.  The performances were spot on.  And it was original.  Yes, there have been political satires, there have been apocalyptic films.  But this was so well done.  I'll definitely want to watch it again and it has a good chance of owning it in my personal collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.