Don't Look Up (2021)

Adam McKay, the director of Talladega Nights and Anchorman, knocked it out of the park with The Big Short, a funny, entertaining, and insightful film, then followed it up with the masterfully crafted Vice, which makes it disappointing that he has struck out with Don't Look Up. There is so much potential in this satire but it feels so cliched and... worst of all, not funny. The humour isn't like the subtle, biting wit of his award nominated films but more the hammy caricature of his earlier films. For me this approach saps the power of the story and barely made me laugh. 

The film is trying to make a point, and it's a really interesting one, and makes quite a few prescient arguments, but the film hitting us over the head with its absurdist approach takes away the impact of much of it. Whether it is how political maneuverings prevent the best interests of citizens from being pursued, or how short term profit is prioritized over long term sustainability, or how smart women get sidelined for less accomplished men, or how celebrity distracts from issues of real weight in the world, Don't Look Up hits it all. But the story becomes more and more absurd in a way that loses the power of what it's trying to say.

And perhaps if it had been funny, like laugh out loud funny, it might have worked better. But most of the jokes are smirk inducing at best. I barely actually laughed, like maybe once or twice. The cast, from leads DiCaprio and Lawrence, to the supporting A-listers like Streep, Blanchett and down the line, act more like they are in an SNL skit than in a movie. I kept wishing the film would have been more deft in its approach. 

And it just keeps going on and on, very much overstaying it's welcome. When it finally does reach its conclusion it actually begins to get a little gravitas to its story before erring on the side of Independence Day style spectacle. And just when I thought there was a little poignancy... then it still doesn't end. The film adds a silly little postscript that is likely the least serious thing in the whole movie, undermining any sort of emotional resonance it could have had. 

Movies like this are the most disappointing for me because unlike outright bad movies, a film like Don't Look Up has so much going for it and it often comes close to hitting the mark, but then misses. There are moments in this, embedded deep within the silliness, that were meaningful. I just wish Don't Look Up was more of that and less of the not so funny jokes. 

Don't Look Up

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Himsesh Patel, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Michael Chiklis, Melanie Lynskey, Liev Schreiber, Sarah Silverman, Chris Evans

Writer/Director: Adam McKay