“Don’t Look Up” (2021)
Adam McKay wags the dog as he takes us all on a surreal reflection of the past two fear driven years of our lives.
Adam McKay wags the dog as he takes us all on a surreal reflection of the past two fear driven years of our lives.
I initially avoided Don’t Look Up for entirely irrational reasons. Firstly, it was far too popular and trending endlessly within the sphere of social media and the vaguest of descriptions detailed it as a comedy, and I’m rather picky when it comes to comedy in the comedic cinematic realm. I want the funny to be so good it disappears with our approval as we engage with the far larger and more interesting story. And thirdly, being the contrarian that I try earnestly to be, the spoof/send up/satirical take on yet another of those existential topics of our lives, climate change, sends my conspiratorially over active mind into hyperdrive. So I feared I’d be watching a comedic send up of the vaudevillian puppet show we see daily on our telescreens and in that bizarrely abstract concept we’ve all agreed upon since birth, as well as that pesky “real world” that will continue to turn, along with the earth, and in spite of anything the hubris of human beings can throw at it, before then trying to valiantly defend and save it.
I didn’t really observe the climate change angle here, but I did wince (and smile) at the parallels with the last two years and the existential threat posed by the “pandemic”. I also winced and smiled at the deliberately grotesque motley crew of characters thrown into the worldwide spotlight of a world ending catastrophe, and being utterly ill equipped for the gigantic task at hand. With the world holding its collective breath, a controller at NASA’s “Mission Control” exclaims midway through this 143 minute film “Does anyone know what the fuck just happened?” and here’s a many and varied bunch of vague outlines as to what has indeed happened, and perhaps the who, the what and even a few whys:
On the surface, Don’t Look Up is the ultimate existential threat movie as a 5–10km wide comet is hurtling toward earth with an expected catastrophic impact of just over 6 months time. The reward for discovering said comet is for an astronomy Professor and a younger associate to be propelled into the public consciousness with the most disastrous news as could be thought possible. It could be argued that these straight laced space enthusiasts get swept along and thrust into a spotlight they are ill equipped for and could never imagine being their individual realities, but for an anxiety and medicine dependent Professor and his younger, more carefree stoner associate with an acidic tongue, it is.
Their reality becomes mired in a dense fog of media overload and public appearances, a tabloid tale that overwhelms and intoxicates one, brings scorn and ridicule to the other, as the world ending narrative is spun and twisted into political opportunities, monetary opportunities and the very best disaster capitalism has to offer. For this to flourish you have a slogan to promote and defend, a media “war” to win and a schism to be encouraged to develop between schools of independent and official thought.
And you have a merger of “Big” industry with Government and the very worst of humanity in the most important of positions of supposed power, but with regard only for their own selfish interests.
So you can see the parallels with the past two years!
Add into the mix Meryl Streep as a vacuous and vacant President of the USA entirely in the corporate and donor pocket, Jonah Hill as her money grabbing son and Chief of Staff at a White House with “grown ups” in charge of a quite literal lunatic asylum of hangers on and with vapid disinterest and inappropriate behaviour doled out to everyone in the vicinity. Ron Perlman arrives midway through the film akin to a revival of the 1998 Michael Bay directed Armageddon (sadly there’s no Bruce Willis tearfully saying goodbye to his daughter sound tracked by “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith) and Ariana Grande portrays an international singer and music star with an uncanny sense of real life experience. It’s an all star cast, enhanced by Tyler Perry as a media hungry talk show host accompanied by co-host Cate Blanchett at her most seductive and callously cold best, but the plaudits are firmly reserved for Mark Rylance. His portrayal of a Billionaire technology tycoon was equal parts Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and an actual hair sniffing Joe Biden, and was equal parts unhinged, terrifying and so perfectly representative of that “Deep State” shadow world we all pretend does not exist and if we do, we convince our lying eyes that these demented entities are only there to help us.
Disaster capitalism and “not letting a crisis go to waste”, Adam McKay follows a similar pattern set with the previously directed Vice in 2018 and particularly The Big Short 3 years earlier. He cleverly and constantly juxtaposes the unfolding catastrophe against both a bizarre set of characters but more importantly the real life of nature, animals and the wider world we all inhabit. He also cleverly juxtaposes the social media reaction to a vacuous singing celebrity and the grimmest of all possible segments of catastrophic news, shining a pertinent light on our collective fixation with the fluff and nonsense rather than the rather more spiritually and humanly important.
I take life and films rather too seriously at times and this is perhaps reflected in this, as is custom, another spoiler free review of a film. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence excel in their headline roles: a Professor drunk on the unexpected power and authority the situation has given him and if you require a further juxtaposition, here he is juxtaposed with the gnarly, outspoken, “Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”, and thus representing the mad and/or fringe position on a global catastrophe and naturally, instantly ridiculed and decried by a voracious media eager for more distraction and titillation. DiCaprio and Lawrence are ably assisted by Rob Morgan and Timothee Chalamet as the real human heart to this existential human tale told through the eyes of duplicitous human beings with only self regard and aggrandisement in their crosshairs as they exploit both the horrific situation and the general public they dupe with their every word.
From the UK of the past couple of years I see the calamity of a Prime Minister unfit for the highest duty and beholden to seen (and the unseen) donors and benefactors to his Party. I see the cadre of rotating goons unfit for their ministerial and public offices and the creepy shadowy figures so aptly represented by the character brilliantly showcased via the acting skills of Mark Rylance. I see the money grabbing potential, the distractions and most prescient of all, disaster capitalism, as first noted in Naomi Klein’s 2007 book The Shock Doctrine. Even in spite of a world ending comet (a once in a lifetime “pandemic”), there’s always the time, inclination and political will to build back better.
It’s disaster capitalism baby, and so, so much more.
At the very beginning of the film, the world renowned (and much missed) cosmologist and astronomer Carl Sagan is given a name-check.
We’ll therefore end with his “pale blue dot”:
Thanks for reading, which even for me, was a strange, yet still unspoiled film review! For more straight forward (but still unspoiled reviews), please see either my archives or the three most recently published linked below:
“Old” (2021)
The 14th offering from M Night Shyamalan is a disturbing one and a portent at a future no-one wishes to admit.medium.com
“Uncharted” (2022)
The PlayStation crossover that’s as faintly ridiculous as the fun filled console game that spawned it.medium.com
“The Batman” (2022)
A gothic, dirty, fetishised and stylised “sins of the father” tale that was almost very good indeed.medium.com