Don’t Look Up: A Review
Time for some #MondayMovies because Oscar Season is upon us.
I’m gonna confess that this one wasn’t my favorite. I mean, it’s not The Revenant bad, but it was painful to watch in its own special way. There’s just something about people grabbing for money and power instead of working together to solve a global crisis that was a bit too…on the nose? Maybe this film will age better, but right now my feelings are entirely too raw. The movie felt much more dark than humor on the whole dark humor spectrum.
Aside from my personal feelings, the movie wasn’t as well constructed as I might have hoped. It felt LONG. Performances were…fine. There are quite a few great actors in this, but it didn’t feel like anyone’s best work. Cate Blanchett and Rob Morgan were standouts for me as was the brief appearance of Timothee Chalamet. I disliked both Meryl Streep and Jonah Hill intensely; this animosity suggests each was doing a terrific job.
Don’t get me wrong. There were excellent moments. People gathered around a table to say a prayer and share a meal before the world ends, for one. The idea that earth’s response to impending doom and an inefficient government would be a benefit concert with a power ballad? Spot on.
The moment where Jennifer Lawrence’s character comes home, but her parents won’t open the door unless she agrees not to talk politics because they are #TeamComet? Painful. All of the hashtags and the people wearing up buttons versus those wearing down buttons? Gut-wrenching. Then again, maybe Dr. Strangelove was painful to watch back in 1964. I think that’s the vibe McKay was going for, but…it didn’t land the same for me.
The film is just so bleak. It’s saying the powerful and greedy will win. Science will lose. We might as well say our prayers and have that glass of wine because the comet can’t be stopped.
One tiny theme is that absolute power—and it’s cousin fame—corrupts absolutely which leads to one of my least favorite things: adultery. May we all find someone who loves us the way Oscar movies and literary novels love adultery.
Honestly, I’m not even sure I would put this in the Best Picture category, but I bet it’s going to be there. I do think this movie will take on a new life later. Folks will look back at it for what it was like to be alive in 2021/2022—assuming climate change or the rona doesn’t get us all first.
This movie is for people who
love Leonardo DiCaprio and/or Meryl Streep
have no problem watching people be awful to one another
love for their dark humor to be particularly dark
like their satire to be blatant
This movie isn’t for people who
are suffering from anxiety about the current state of affairs
like their satire to be subtle, understated, dry even
are looking for light escapism
#MondayMovies disclaimer: This blog is just for my thoughts. Sure, I’m a writer and an English major so I have some idea—we would hope—of how stories work. I’m also a flawed human being with my owns likes and dislikes, though, so please watch any movie you like and love it or hate it or just go for the popcorn.