Netflix lets down fans with “Don’t Look Up,” a social commentary film that misses its mark. PHOTO CREDIT: tribaltribune.com
Although the Netflix original “Don’t Look Up” features expensive names and calculated satire, the chaos of Adam McKay’s film is counterproductive and overly outrageous.
This apocalyptic movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence attempts to display how partisan issues are devastating our planet. As two astronomers warn humanity of near devastation, society turns a blind eye towards the inevitable: a comet hurtling towards Earth.
While the scandals in “Don’t Look Up” are eerily relatable to the real world, the film doesn’t serve a single purpose. The comedy is mediocre. There is no true call to action. The information presented is nothing astronomical (no pun intended). Dare I say, McKay wasted a star-studded cast on an irrelevant idea.
Don’t get me wrong – the film highlights why the 21st century might be destined for failure. Global warming, politics and infotainment are brutally criticized, and rightfully so. I can envision the initial purpose of this film, yet the execution is incredibly over the top.
Talented names are thrown into “Don’t Look Up” with no real outcome. Timothée Chalamet plays a stereotypical teenager with zero depth and phenom Meryl Streep delivers a cringey performance of the dry script of jokes targeted towards presidential controversy.
Simply put, the plot of the film is boring and only revolves around the most obvious of America’s issues on loop. At times, the satire can cause a slight chuckle, but it’s all been done before. However you interpret the different allusions, you can find that another director already made the joke, and quite frankly, made it better.
There is almost no complexity to the filming itself. Cinematically, “Don’t Look Up” is a compilation of generic angles and forgettable visual effects. Not a single scene took my breath away, and a movie with such film potential should be far more impressive.
Most importantly, since the movie doesn’t reach its satirical goals — yet also holds no gravity — the real issues trying to be portrayed are entirely diminished. The writers frantically set out to do the most and I’ve never seen such a terrible backfire.
Despite all these flaws, “Don’t Look Up” is Netflix’s second most-watched original film ever created and is up for four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture (excuse me?), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Score. I’ll give credit where it’s due: the soundtrack is pretty entertaining for a music guru, including songs by Bon Iver and impressive original compositions by Nicholas Britell.
I gave up hope in this movie in the scene where — spoiler alert — Jonah Hill’s character ridiculously attempts to dramatize what I believe to be a dig at Donald Trump Jr. He has so much more potential, and truthfully, plays down what I assume his character could have made a standout performance.
This review was harsh, but still with good intention. I simply don’t see the purpose of wasting the talent of DiCaprio, Lawrence, Streep, Chalamet and more on a predictable, unamusing comedy.
At the end of the day, I’ll stick to McKay’s better comedies, such as “Step Brothers” or “Tammy.” If you’re looking for a not-so-quick critique (why is this movie two and a half hours long?), turn to “Don’t Look Up” on Netflix.