REVIEW: "DON'T LOOK UP" ON NETFLIX
Good satire, and even good parody, requires specificity. Vague platitudes may work pretty well in political speeches or on social media, but they're rarely funny. To make a joke work, you need that shock of recognition. "Oh, this really IS how things are, and you are right, it's ridiculous and stupid." Think of the best parody films or Lonely Island music videos. They work because they carefully replicate the original thing that they're mocking.
Adam McKay's new Netflix satire "Don't Look Up" beautifully demonstrates this principle by constantly violating it at every turn. It's like a 2.5-hour cinematic adaptation of a smug tweet, a superficial sneer at our collective inability to take action against... well, I suppose it's probably meant to be climate change, but the film so totally lacks any kind of specific observations or insights, you could honestly apply it to just about any social issue or chronic problem. McKay is angry about inaction, and sad about the fate of humanity, but seems unable to channel these feelings into something artistically or creatively productive. The movie just kind of sits with them, and asks viewers to sit with them. Our reward at the end is a "zany" sci-fi epilogue that plays like one of those final half-hour "Saturday Night Live" sketches that doesn't know how to end.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence star as astronomer Dr. Randall Mindy and his most promising grad student, Kate Dibiasky, who have identified a comet that's on a collision course with Earth. Now, Dr. Mindy, Kate, and government scientist Dr. Teddy Olgethorpe (Rob Morgan) have just six months to warn humanity about its impending doom and try to motivate some kind of large-scale organized response. The problem: everyone is distracted and no one seems to care.
McKay goes after a lot of individual targets in the film. Meryl Streep and Jonah Hill co-star as Trump and Don Jr. stand-ins. Tyler Perry and Cate Blanchett play morning news anchors with Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan-esque demeanors. Mark Rylance uses his "Ready Player One" voice again to play another mysterious and elusive tech CEO. Ariana Grande plays a vapid but at least semi-well-intentioned pop star. Michael Chiklis scores a cameo as a Sean Hannity type. Performance-wise, DiCaprio comes out best, having fun playing against type as a neurotic suburbanite, but most of the terrific ensemble is saddled with sketch comedy targets to play. Cate Blanchett is spectacularly wasted here. It's almost impressive.
And here's where the lack of specificity gets the film into trouble. "Don't Look Up" isn't actually about climate change, it's about a comet, so we don't really engage with any of the actual issues at hand in terms of the science or business of the crisis. The media critique is so shallow and outdated, the internet barely scores a mention. The political analysis rarely rises above cheap Trump jokes. And I'm not even sure why McKay has such an issue with pop singers; surely they're doing their best and this isn't primarily their fight? There are no energy executives depicted in the movie, but there was ample time to make fun of influencers going through painful public break-ups?
Instead of digging into ANY of this stuff, and really making a film that explores what's really happening with climate change or the pandemic or anything else, McKay's just kind of lashing out emotionally. He blames everyone for the world's problems and he's mad at us. And I get that it's easier to sneer and say "Kesha didn't do enough" rather than actually tackle this in a way that's thoughtful and accurate but... it's also kind of pointless. "Don't Look Up" is straight-up misanthropy for much of its running time: humanity is just too short-sighted and self-serving and easily distracted to fix its own problems. And even if we could, there are powerful forces that we created -- like governments and corporations -- and to whom we've ceded power that will prevent us from fixing our own problems. He tries his best to cut some of this with a finale that reminds the heroes of the value of life on Earth and what they're fighting for, but it's like nibbling on a small chocolate pillow mint after downing a plate of 25 hot wings. You can barely taste the cool refreshing candy because your mouth is on fire.
THE BASICS
Title: "Don't Look Up"
Where to Watch: Netflix
Running time: 138 minutes
Genre: Satirical sci-fi comedy
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