It is a weird world to live in when the man who brought us such comedic gold as Step Brothers, Talladega Nights, and Anchorman has taken a sharp 180 turn and starts churning out Sorkin esque features of hilarious and horrifying realities, but here we are where we are discussing Academy Award winning screenwriter Adam McKay. Don’t Look Up, his newest feature after the fall of Wall Street and the look at Dick Cheney, focuses on the ineptitude that took over Capital Hill and continues to plague all forms of politics when it comes to a re-election campaign. Don’t Look Up tells the story of a comet, the size of Mt Everest about to collide with earth, and the scientists who try to alarm a president who only cares about her numbers, with a banger from Ariana Grande.
The movie focuses on doctorate candidate Kate Dibiasky played by Jennifer Lawrence who discovered, what is later dubbed as, the Dibiasky comet that is on a correlation with earth. Dr. Randall Mindy played by Leonardo DiCaprio alerts the proper channels of Dibiasky’s findings only to be brushed off by President Orlean played by Meryl Streep as it doesn’t look good right before her re-election campaign. The two take it to a news show consisting of Brie Evantee played by Cate Blanchett and Jack Bremmer played by Tyler Perry, where Dibiasky loses her cool and becomes the living embodiment of a meme and thusly destroying their credibility and creates the divide of the world between facts and fiction creating conspiracies, something the world is a little all too familiar with right now.
Don’t Look Up is the movie that 2021 needs, nay the movie 2021 deserves. It perfectly encapsules the complete and utter ******** we’ve been through these last 2 years, full stop. Whether it be a gigantic comet coming to earth that is being described an extinction level event 10 times the size of the comet that killed the dinosaurs, or a deadly disease that is being brushed off as the common flu, people love to weigh in on it and ignore scientifically proved, authenticated, and fact checked facts. I digress though, because we all need some levity and laughter, and thank the lord themselves for Jonah Hill’s portrayal of Jason Orlean as he brings the comedy to the forefront of this otherwise, very dark and somber look at the world we currently live in.
However, that is not to say that McKay doesn’t craft his film similarly to his last two outings with much comedy, fourth wall breaking, and satire, because he does, but when dealing with an issue that is still over taking the world and still causing divides, it is hard to be able to separate and laugh at the situation now. No it does not harm the film itself, it just brings forward a slight escape from the world we all wish to escape from now.
Moreover there is one scene in particular in the movie that focuses on a political concert led by Riley Bina played by Ariana Grande that features a new song, amply titled, Just Look Up, which is an absolute hit. The song is amply funny, informative, and wildly catchy, if you take nothing else away from this film it will be this insanely fun son.
Don’t Look Up, is a horrifying window into reality that replaces a disease with a comet, the lack of attention brought to the forefront about it, and how in the end if we don’t listen (or look up) were all going to face the consequences. So strap yourself in for the ride of a lifetime, because we only have one life and may as well enjoy it while we can. Don’t Look Up truly is one of those movies that only comes around once in a lifetime and truly will linger with you for a very long time after.
