← Back to Reviews
in
Don't Look Up
Adam McKay, the creative force behind a film I liked called Vice and a film I hated called The Big Short scores a bullseye with a ferocious black comedy called Don't Look Up, a smoldering indictment on the effects of politics and social media on our very existence, buoyed by a sparkling all star cast, including five Oscar winners.
This 2021 epic stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy an astronomer who, with the assistance of a PHD candidate named Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers that a giant comet is hurdling toward the earth, will land in about six months, and will destroy the planet. Randall and Kate fly to Washington to report their discovery to the President (Meryl Streep) but she doesn't want to cause a panic until her scientific team has a chance to look into it. Randall and Kate then go to the media and are pretty much laughed in the face by the New York Herald and a talk show called The Daily Rip. As the reaction to their news tears Randall and Kate apart, a cyber billionaire (Mark Rylance) steps forward and announces that the comet can be beneficial to the planet if it is broken up before it lands, but his plan is really predicated on a secret about the comet that could further line his pockets.
Adam McKay has created an emotional roller coaster here that began in an almost farcical manner, producing nervous laughs as McKay's screenplay starts off seriously tongue in cheek but grows more serious as the story progresses. The scene where Randall and Kate first appear on the Daily Rip had my stomach tied in knots because the co-hosts, beautifully played by Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry, didn't have a clue how serious this was and their reaction to Kate's meltdown made my heart sink. And when I thought I had seen enough, we see Randall return to the show for further devastation, in what was probably my favorite scene in the film, brilliantly directed by McKay and brilliantly acted by DiCaprio.
The saddest part of the story is what this horror does to Randall and Kate's relationship as Randall is initially embraced by social media and Kate becomes a social media pariah. As I began to mourn the end of their very special relationship at the final third of the film, their relationship and everything else changes as Randall and Kate first notice the comet in the air simultaneously, but from different locations, a moment that ignited this reviewer's tear ducts.
This film was frightening and had my stomach in knots for most of the running time, not because it really happened, but because it could happen and there was nothing unrealistic here, as horrific as it was. McKay's direction is sharp and imaginative and he works wonders with an incredible cast. DiCaprio has rarely been better and Lawrence's Kate leaps off the screen into the viewer's soul. Also loved Blanchett as the flighty talk show host, Jonah Hill as the President's Chief of Staff, Timothee Chalamet as a fanboy/gamer drawn to Kate, Mark Rylance as the goofy billionaire, and the accustomed crisp and humorous turn from Streep as the POTUS. An edgy black comedy that takes no prisoners and left this reviewer limp.
Adam McKay, the creative force behind a film I liked called Vice and a film I hated called The Big Short scores a bullseye with a ferocious black comedy called Don't Look Up, a smoldering indictment on the effects of politics and social media on our very existence, buoyed by a sparkling all star cast, including five Oscar winners.
This 2021 epic stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy an astronomer who, with the assistance of a PHD candidate named Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers that a giant comet is hurdling toward the earth, will land in about six months, and will destroy the planet. Randall and Kate fly to Washington to report their discovery to the President (Meryl Streep) but she doesn't want to cause a panic until her scientific team has a chance to look into it. Randall and Kate then go to the media and are pretty much laughed in the face by the New York Herald and a talk show called The Daily Rip. As the reaction to their news tears Randall and Kate apart, a cyber billionaire (Mark Rylance) steps forward and announces that the comet can be beneficial to the planet if it is broken up before it lands, but his plan is really predicated on a secret about the comet that could further line his pockets.
Adam McKay has created an emotional roller coaster here that began in an almost farcical manner, producing nervous laughs as McKay's screenplay starts off seriously tongue in cheek but grows more serious as the story progresses. The scene where Randall and Kate first appear on the Daily Rip had my stomach tied in knots because the co-hosts, beautifully played by Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry, didn't have a clue how serious this was and their reaction to Kate's meltdown made my heart sink. And when I thought I had seen enough, we see Randall return to the show for further devastation, in what was probably my favorite scene in the film, brilliantly directed by McKay and brilliantly acted by DiCaprio.
The saddest part of the story is what this horror does to Randall and Kate's relationship as Randall is initially embraced by social media and Kate becomes a social media pariah. As I began to mourn the end of their very special relationship at the final third of the film, their relationship and everything else changes as Randall and Kate first notice the comet in the air simultaneously, but from different locations, a moment that ignited this reviewer's tear ducts.
This film was frightening and had my stomach in knots for most of the running time, not because it really happened, but because it could happen and there was nothing unrealistic here, as horrific as it was. McKay's direction is sharp and imaginative and he works wonders with an incredible cast. DiCaprio has rarely been better and Lawrence's Kate leaps off the screen into the viewer's soul. Also loved Blanchett as the flighty talk show host, Jonah Hill as the President's Chief of Staff, Timothee Chalamet as a fanboy/gamer drawn to Kate, Mark Rylance as the goofy billionaire, and the accustomed crisp and humorous turn from Streep as the POTUS. An edgy black comedy that takes no prisoners and left this reviewer limp.