Beats us over the head with the obvious
Film Critic Jason Evans is on a mission to tell you
everything you need to know about movies in less time than it takes to spot a
shooting star. Jason’s reviews are exactly 100 words (not 99, not 101). This is
his 100 word review of Don’t Look Up.
The Premise – Astronomy grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), are charting objects in the sky when they find a new comet. A few calculations later and they realize that it is headed directly toward Earth. But, when they try to warn the world, no one seems to care. The President (Meryl Streep) and her Chief-of-Staff son (Jonah Hill) only care about how they can use the news for political gain. When Kate and Randall go on TV to spread the word, the anchors (Tyler Perry and Kate Blanchett) seem more interested in what social media is saying about the story than the fact that Earth is going to be destroyed. No matter how loud they scream, Kate and Randall just can’t get anyone to pay attention to the inevitability of their science. The film is written and directed by Adam McKay (Anchorman, The Big Short, Vice).
The 100 Words – It doesn’t take a genius to realize McKay is
trying to teach us a lesson about climate change here. There’s also, “social media
is toxic" and "tribalism is killing our political system.” But, he doesn’t have
anything to say about these issues beyond the obvious… and his film goes on and
on for almost 2 ½ hours. None of the characters are realistic and many seem to
think shrieking their lines makes for a more powerful performance. McKay knows
humor and the film has some truly funny moments, but isn’t nearly as revealing
as his other forays into social commentary.
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