DON'T LOOK UP (2021), Dir. by Adam McKay

Twitter will try to tell you that Don’t Look Up sucks and that it has no merit. Actually, only one of those things is true. I think the story Adam McKay came up with is really something brilliant… or at least, it could’ve been. The bones are all here; it’s awesome satire material, but it’s delivery is what renders it incapable of making an impact (again, no pun intended). The dialogue is clunky, even granted the fact that it’s heavily stylized. The editing is a whirlwind, and often reading as completely disorienting. Timothee Chalamet’s character never validates his reason for existence in the narrative. The list of flaws goes on.

The big problem, though, (and the one that I think could’ve saved this movie) are the performances. I remember someone on Twitter remarking after seeing the promotional stills a few months back that the cast looked like it came off one of those fake fan-made movie posters. Unfortunately, Don’t Look Up is proof of why a flashy cast is pointless without the right direction. As amazing as these actors are, no one (aside from Jonah Hill and Mark Rylance) is giving an effective comic performance. I think it’s more than fair to say that most people wouldn’t hesitate to give the benefit of the doubt to pretty much the entire cast that they could pull off better. Unfortunate, but this is what we got. So no, Don’t Look Up is not completely meritless, and that’s better than what most run-of-the-mill, mediocre, and forgettable films can say for themselves. It even made me laugh a couple times. But I mean, as a whole, it does kinda suck.