Don't Look Up - Movie Review

I watched the new Netflix movie on Christmas Day and it wouldn’t let me go. Everything in the movie alludes to the four years we survived with Trump and some of the allusions are indeed too fresh and too close to home. But something tells me that if Trump watched it he’d think that Meryl Streep is playing Hillary Clinton, not him, just because she is a woman president. Even the reference that the president’s son is her Chief of Staff (played by Jonah Hill with a clear allusion to Ivanka, especially with his improvisation of sexual tension between the mother and son) would go over his head because Trump has normalized it.

I won't say much about Jennifer Lawrence and Leo DiCaprio as the lead characters of two Michigan scientists who discover the "planet killer" comet, except that they are perfect for these roles. I saw an interview with the movie director and producer Adam McKay (also known for Vice, The Big Short, and Succession) who said that he could not see any other actors in the title roles and it made perfect sense: Leo and Jennifer have demonstrated their whole range of capacity as actors in this movie.

The scariest character was that of the monetization-obsessed billionaire played by Mark Rylance who is a cumulative portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Peter Thiel. The ambitions, quirks, and mannerisms of all of them are manifested and come through in Rylance’s one Peter Isherwell. To me, even his name sounds like the mantra of the manifestation approach to life so many sociopaths with too much money live by: "I sure will."

Other notable performances include Cate Blanchett as a popular TV show anchor brilliantly emulating Laura Ingraham of Fox News in appearance, speech, and manners. Tyler Perry is hilariously playing her casually misogynist anchor partner, and their familiarity with each other reminds that of a tired married couple. Timothee Chalamet plays Jennifer Lawrence's love interest and they have an interesting chemistry of doomed decent people stuck together. Ariana Grande is the embodiment of all modern flaky pop stars who drive social media trends today, while her cheating boyfriend's name, DJ Chello (played by the rapper Kid Cudi) is a little too close to DJ Khaled to my taste, especially because DJ Khaled is nothing like DJ Chello in real life. Ron Perlman plays a forgotten daredevil hero who is a clear parody of Bruce Willice's Harry Stamper in the 1998 Armageddon movie. Paul Guilfoyle plays a stupid military general with his own agenda. He brings up the memory of Gen.Flynn when he simply leaves the room not wanting to wait for a meeting with the president. In a word, the casting is brilliant and there are several cameos there that I didn't even register, such as Chris Evans, Ben Sidell, and Liev Schreiber.

The entire trend of denying science in the face of extermination is another parallel we are living through right now. The movie is so close to reality it will make you uncomfortable, but it’s incredibly clever and funny at the same time. I’d definitely watch it again, just to see who Chris Evans and Liev Schreiber play in it. Perhaps they are just playing themselves. Just kidding, I didn’t even realize they were in the movie until I brought up the cast and saw them listed as unnamed characters.

I'd also watch the movie again for the two post-credit scenes that tie the movie together and give it an additional dimension. Don't skip them. It's not a happy end movie, but the post-credit scenes make it light and give you a glimmer of hope for justice, if not happiness.

Finally, I’d watch the movie again just to count references to what happened in real life while Trump was in office and prepare myself to the potential that we might be facing this political disaster again in 2024.

UPD: I watched the movie for the second time, and enjoyed it as much, if not more, than the first time, because now I could pay more attention to the details and lines. I also noticed that Chris Evans plays an action movie star wearing a loose beanie hat and sunglasses, basically an edgy version of himself. Still didn't see Liev Schreiber. He must have made a very short cameo appearance.