This review is brought to you by Kathy Kaiser
DIRECTOR & WRITER: Adam McKay
STARRING: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Ron Morgan, Tyler Perry, Timothee Chalamet, Ron Perlman and Ariana Grande
“Based on truly possible events….”
Venture into a world…a world where new astronomer Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) happens upon a meteor so enormous, that it will ultimately extinguish life on our planet as we know it…
Now, imagine that she shares this information with head Astronomer, Dr Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and when he checks out what Kate has found, he confirms that the extinction of our planet, is just a mere 6 months away…
And now imagine that these two scientists desperately want to share their findings not only with NASA, but with President Orlean (Meryl Streep), and her Chief of Staff Jason Orlean (Jonah Hill), but that they’re both not quite into what these two intelligent individuals are spewing…
So, what do you do when your own government won’t even listen to you? You embark on a media campaign, talking to anyone and everyone you can, even morning talk show hosts Jack Bremmer (Tyler Perry) and Brie Evantee (Cate Blanchett), who aren’t exactly sold either, that our world is about to end…
And as the madness ensues, with the months we have left turning into weeks, it seems that Entrepreneur Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance) has the perfect way to save our world, convinced that he’s even smarter than NASA, on how to get rid of this menace in the sky…
And alas, as tour story unfolds, leading us to put ourselves in the hands of mad men, and mad women for that matter, we may be forced to confront the realization, that our civilization may just not have the knowledge or expertise, to save us all…
I give DON’T LOOK UP a rating of 9/10: If you enjoyed the hypocrisy and true entertainment value that came from Adam McKay’s previous looks on our flawed government, and societal norms – including 2015’s THE BIG SHORT, and 2018’s VICE, then you are going to love his latest look at our screwed up societal perspectives that are portrayed in DON’T LOOK UP! DiCaprio is fabulous once again, giving an award worthy performance throughout almost every frame of this exceptional film, as he portrays the meek and mild Scientist, who is forced to come out of his shell, to share his scary story on the ultimate demise of our world. Jennifer Lawrence is fabulous too, playing the scientist who just can’t understand first her findings of this world-crushing comet, and then the fact that literally NO ONE, except Dr. Mindy and Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe (played by Ron Morgan) will take her seriously. Cate Blanchett, as the wily temptress new broadcaster, was perfect casting too, as her “ways of the world” just keep this film flowing. Although I was saddened by the fact that Tyler Perry’s role seemed to be nothing more than an afterthought on this joy ride to our annihilation, which is what kept me from giving this film a perfect rating. But then, when you add in the better-than-average performances by Meryl Streep as our flighty President, Jonah Hill as her “fire by nepotism” Chief of staff and son mind you, and the billionaire idiot, who is going to devise a way to save us all, played by Mark Rylance, you end up with a star-studded cast, that plays out this larger-than-life storyline, almost perfectly. But, as I watched this film, and the humor it brought of how stupid so many of us can be, in one way or another, the realization of the fact that money and power always seem to supersede good old-fashioned common sense, seemed to shake me at my core, as it all alludes to the fact, that it seems so real, within our present-day existence. I can only give McKay accolades for telling another hilariously funny, yet poignant tale of our lives gone awry, while it seems a lot of us are just willing to watch it all unfold, and just stand by. With this fabulous film hitting theaters this weekend, and not hitting on Netflix till December 24th, I suggest that you head out to a theater near you to catch DiCaprio and Lawrence give their best performances this year, on the biggest screen you can find!
9/10
MATINEE CHAT with Kathy Kaiser 