FilmSnobReviews

Title: Don’t Look Up
Director: Adam McKay
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 2 hr 18 mins

What It Is: Two astronomers discover a comet 5-10 kilometers wide, shredding its way through the stars directly towards Earth with a 100% chance of impact. Their immediate reaction of concern prompts a necessary plan to stop this comet – however, there are politicians, billionaires, media outlets, and billions more on the planet who have different views.

What We Think: Don’t Look Up is a film we are sorely missing in this day and age. The brilliantly satirical, savvy, and unrestrained direction this story takes is remarkably resonant – while also being absolutely hilarious at the same time. As opposed to Adam McKay’s other films, I’d say that this one leans towards more tragicomedy than it does comedy, being that the threat of the meteor is something taken quite seriously almost immediately and is an underlying terror that laughs at the situation of these characters throughout the film. Yet, the scariest part of Don’t Look Up isn’t the meteor hurtling towards Earth – it’s the Earth’s reaction to it.

It’s difficult to execute a story with such a broad range of themes, but McKay’s screenplay here accomplishes maybe more than what it set out to do. The film comments on our modern world in a sardonic way and satirizes many aspects of it (politics, celebrity, media, technology), but it also balances that commentary with a core question: “What the hell is going on here?”, a question that is answered hysterically (and concerningly) through the delightful cast of characters in the film.

Every actor here is fantastic. You might think that having this amount of star power in the film would make it difficult to focus on, but expect nothing less than a seamless ensemble. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence are great as the leads. The subject matter probably hits quite close to DiCaprio considering his work in the environmental field, which makes for quite the powerhouse of performance when those arguments resurge. The supporting cast is fully enveloped into the dark comedy side of things; with Streep, Hill, and Rylance (chilling!) turning out priceless moments whenever they’re on screen, and Timothée Chalamet has a smaller yet poignant role as well (comedy is definitely one of his strengths). One thing that is certainly noticeable in these performances is that the actors had a fun time making this, which is always a huge plus – it’s something you can tell just by watching their little improvs and exchanges onscreen.

Speaking of improvisation, the jazzy but also boisterous score from Nicholas Britell is phenomenal! The piece that undoubtedly stuck with me the most was the opening piece – it has a tempo similar to that of a ticking clock, and bombastic trumpets that are akin to an alarm going off, almost as if the opening credits are screaming at you: “WAKE UP! THE COMET IS COMING!”. Perfect score for the tone of the film, which does indeed walk the line between sad realization and spectacular hilarity, but balances both oh-so-well. This film is most definitely going to be divisive, but it’s actually quite humorous to think that the reaction to this film, a comet of clever comedic subtlety, could be similar to the one expressed by the characters in the film itself.

Our Grade: A, Don’t Look Up is, in my opinion, a promising candidate for the next Dr. Strangelove of this generation. It has a stellar cast, a witty and astute script, and if all else fails, pure entertainment value at its core. Definitely look this one up on Netflix, because I’ll certainly be doing that again very soon.