In a good news/bad news situation, two relatively unknown astronomers discover a comet, but they also go the extra mile to let everyone know that it will hit the Earth.
Hilarious, depressing, and ultimately illuminating! Don’t Look Up cuts straight to the chase. A comet is about to hit the earth, and the government and people are in la-la land. For the first half an hour, I was wondering when the comedy would stop overshadowing the drama. But when all the characters and events were presented, I realised that this comedy would be camouflaging the drama throughout. Aristophanes “gave birth” to comedy in Athens in times when his city was suffering under the Spartan siege. “Satire”, “farce”, and “parody” are elements of comedy that ridicule and criticise people, society, and governments with the intention to raise awareness but also educate. And this is the kind of comedy Don’t Look Up is.
The government is a joke, and the majority of the people they represent even more so. Writer/director Adam McKay condenses quite a few messages into his film but shows without telling that politics, social media, and tabloids are more important than life itself. Stupid shows and hosts, indifferent pop role models, and scandalous and moronic politicians all develop as part of the subplot that supports the comedy behind the horrific and dramatic plot, namely the extinction-level event that only surfaces human buffoonery.
I particularly liked the parts that served as mockery of certain Hollywood apocalyptic films, capitalism, and the influence of lobbies on our society and government. The part that I particularly didn’t like was Ariana Grande’s concert sequence, which, in my opinion, cherished one of the things it successfully managed to trivialise minutes earlier: the indifferent pop role models. I can understand the antithesis it tried to create with the “rednecks”, but, for me, it ended up contradicting itself. Of course, the best part is actually the end. For obvious reasons, I cannot disclose it, but it is surely the appropriate denouement of the two-hour laughter and thrill that preceded it.
McKay always manages somehow to assemble an incredible cast – here, five Oscar winners and two Oscar nominees: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, and Timothée Chalamet. With them, Rob Morgan and Ron Perlman complete the diverse cast.
There is so much one could say about films like this. Surely, it’s a great Netflix investment that some people will like and some people won’t. Ironically, a film that mocks capitalism/lobbyists, “influencers”, and uses a comet as a metaphor for the global warming is distributed by a colossal company and adored by social media addicts and people who couldn’t care less about the environment. Go figure! Maybe, “satire”, “farce” and “parody” actually describe the world we live in. I still believe there is hope, though.
I very much hope you enjoy it, as well as this festive period. This is my last film review for 2021.
P.S. I believe it was George Bernard Shaw who said: “If you want to tell people the truth, you’d better make them laugh, or they’ll kill you.”
P.P.S. If I had to vote for the most hateable character, that would be Peter Isherwell. The things I could say about this guy… Marginally, in second place comes Jason Orlean.
Please, don’t forget to share and subscribe. If you enjoy my work and dedication to films, please feel free to support me on https://www.patreon.com/kaygazpro. Any contribution is much appreciated and valued.
Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
