Don't Look Up

As much as I disliked last year's Netflix-produced DON'T LOOK UP, I have to admit that its barbs are pretty much on the money.  And that the movie made me laugh out loud several times.  So suffice it to say that writer/director Adam McKay's film works best as a (over)long Saturday Night Live skit, nothing more.  The kind where satire is delivered with a sledgehammer, no nuance.  I recoil at the comments of this film's defenders, who trumpet that we now have a modern day NETWORK or DR. STRANGELOVE.  Honestly?  Did we watch the same movie? Imitation is not enough.  Having a character deliver a long, impassioned rant does not automatically equate with Howard Beale's famous, iconic on-air meltdown, for starters.

The basic plotline will remind some viewers of disaster flicks like ARMAGEDDON, DEEP IMPACT, and METEOR.  A university professor named Dr. Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his Ph.D. candidate student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discover a comet the size of Mt. Everest they calculate will reach Earth in six months, pretty much destroying the planet.  Their research is confirmed by NASA......and summarily dismissed by the White House, led by President Orlean (Meryl Streep), a curious amalgamation of Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton.  The media (and the public) is also stupidly,  infuriatingly disbelieving, focusing instead on the romantic breakup of self absorbed pop stars named Riley (Ariana Grande) and DJ Chello (Scott Mescudi).

The takedown of social media is on target, and the film's title can certainly be related to such.  The depiction of pea brained talk shows is also uncomfortably accurate.  It must be said that Tyler Perry and Cate Blanchett perfectly embody typical morning chat hosts, forever fake smiling on the wonderfully titled The Daily Rip.  The scenario that unfolds is sadly believable.  But McKay, who began and honed his career in comedy, again rather aggressively demonstrates what an amateur he is.  His attempts at serious grown up fare such as THE BIG SHORT and VICE had been less than impressive to me, mainly for their lack of subtlety, where it would've been quite welcome.  In DON'T LOOK UP, the approach is positively bludgeoning.     

Yes, I laughed, but most of the jokes were cheap and easy.  The film screams its subtext with a bullhorn.  McKay also doesn't seem to understand how to modulate between comedy and pathos, and if there was ever a premise to do so.....This, in the right hands, could've been a new classic.   All of the targets are ripe and well deserving of ridicule, though maybe real life has gone beyond satire.  Maybe just glancing at Facebook or cable news is enough, as if it is so far gone that no mirror held up to it is really necessary.  NETWORK saw the handwriting on the wall, and commented on it ferociously yet with some flair.   With its endless caricatures and clumsy, self-satisfied writing, DON'T LOOK UP is on the level of Mad Magazine, with apologies to Alfred E. Neuman.

Beware also the end credits scene.

I saw this movie based on some recommendations, and for that cast.  I liked the change of pace role for Leo, and Lawrence, while again doing her caustic Juliette Lewis-type thing, is also good.  Timothee Chalamet is hilarious and endearing.  He and the aforementioned do have an effective scene at a dinner table late in the film, where we actually get a bit of dimension to the characters.  Meryl? Yeah, she hit some good notes.  Mark Rylance is suitably creepy as an Elon Musk-type tech CEO. 

A shame what passes for satire these days.   McKay never trusts his audience.  And check his Twitter quote, which should tell all you need to know about this "artist":

Loving all the heated debate about our movie.  But if you don't have at least a small ember of anxiety about the climate collapse (or the U.S. teetering) I'm not sure DON'T LOOK UP makes any sense.  It's like a robot viewing a love story, "Why are the faces so close together?"