I must admit i am not a fan of director Adam McKay’s previous comedy movies such as Anchorman and Step Brothers so went into this new film showing on Netflix with some trepidation.
Don’t Look Up stars Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky who while working away as an astronomy grad student discovers a massive comet making its way toward Earth, destroying the planet in seven months. She shares this discovery with her professor, Dr Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the two set out to tell the government and those in power the news with a great sense of urgency. It goes all the way up the ladder to the president of the United States (Meryl Streep) but she seems more concerned with the upcoming election and after appearing on a popular talk show the two find that no-one will take the discovery seriously even if a comet the size of Mount Everest is a planet killer.
With only six months until the comet strikes, how can they convince a 24-hour news cycle just trying to gain an audience and get the attention of the social media-obsessed public before it’s too late?
What will it take to get the world to just look up?!
Brilliantly showing how social media and the celebrity-obsessed public just don’t know or don’t care about serious matters the film is very funny, very frustrating to view and painfully true in so many areas. From their appearance on a highly popular chat show called The Daily Rip who is just obsessed with Dr Mindy who gets called ” “sexiest astronomer alive,” and the President after getting the facts decides to “sit tight and assess,” which stuns Kate the two just cannot believe that the truth is being ignored.
Add into the mix Peter (Mark Rylance), the billionaire behind tech company BASH, whose limited expertise in situations of global crisis trumps those educated in such matters. He wants the government to mine the comet for the rich minerals it contains rather than push it off course!
This is a sort of comic Armageddon but without Bruce Willis to save the day. It shows what an uphill battle science and scientist have with many things from Global Warming to Pandemics and how all governments seem more intent on the gains they can make as opposed to helping mankind.
An excellent satire that most mainstream media and critics hated, perhaps it hit home a bit too hard. Even imminent astrophysicists such as Neil Degrass Tyson and Brian Cox have praised the film for the issues it raises.
It is definitely one of those love it or hate it movies. Do yourself a favour and watch Don’t Look Up, a great cast and script and superbly acted. It’s a little too long and the ending was a little odd, but it will certainly make you think between the laughs. Available only to view on Netflix at the moment but hopefully a HD physical release will come down the line.
FILM – 8.5 OUT OF 10
