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Don’t Look Up begins with young astronomer Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence – mother!) discovering a new comet, along with the fact that and it hasn’t been closer to the sun since before human civilisation began. It’s 5-10km wide, and it’s going to hit Earth in 6 months and 14 days. And that’s a problem.
So, it’s basically Deep Impact all over again.
Still, as long as the US has competent leadership, things should be fine, right? Well, President Orlean (Meryl Streep) – once seen in a picture of her hugging Bill Clinton – is barking mad, and more interested in having a cigarette than doing any real work. She’s a God-bothering Republican President, so clearly there’s a bit of a Democratic Party agenda there. But then that’s Hollywood in a nutshell.
Given that the White House give them the brush off, Kate and Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) decide to leak the news to the press, followed by some hilarious scenes as they figure out how to explain it verbally.
Thrown into the mix is BASH LiiF, a new social media service based around a rather huge phone, led by Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance), a mix of a Steve Jobs and an Elon Musk-style character with zero social skills. He has a love for technology, but is also a huge donor to Orlean’s Presidency, so she will listen to him.
In Don’t Look Up, while the scientists are trying to get the facts out there about what’s trying to happen – and how everyone’s lives are in danger, the bigwigs are more interested in finding a way to turn it into a way to make rich people even richer. Can you achieve and resolve both?
Added into the cast are Jonah Hill as Streep’s son and Chief Of Staff, Jason… who’s also a massive prick; Ariana Grande pops up as self-entitled pop star Riley Bina, Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry are insipid breakfast TV presenters Brie and Jack, Rob Morgan‘s Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe works with Kate and Randall to help them get their message across, the men in Kate’s life are boyfriend Phillip (Himesh Patel) and skateboarder Yule (Timothée Chalamet), while Ron Perlman takes the role of Commander Benedict Drask, going up to the comet single-handedly to destroy it, rather than attempt a remote detonation. Will it work?
I like potential end-of-the-world dramas, and Don’t Look Up is an interesting and mostly engaging film, but at over two hours, it does rather go on a bit. However, the tension really does ramp up in the last third as you’re wondering if the plans to deal with the comet come to fruition.
There’s a mid-credits scene with a MAJOR SPOILER:
There’s also a brief post-credits scene:
Don’t Look Up is on Netflix now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Check out the trailer below:
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 139 minutes
Release date: December 24th 2021
Studio: Netflix
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Rating: 8/10
Director: Adam McKay
Screenplay: Adam McKay
Story: Adam McKay, David Sirota
Producer: Adam McKay, Kevin J Messick
Music: Nicholas Britell
Cast:
Kate Dibiasky: Jennifer Lawrence
Dr. Randall Mindy: Leonardo DiCaprio
President Orlean: Meryl Streep
Brie Evantee: Cate Blanchett
Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe: Rob Morgan
Jason Orlean: Jonah Hill
Peter Isherwell: Mark Rylance
Jack Bremmer: Tyler Perry
Yule: Timothée Chalamet
Benedict Drask: Ron Perlman
Riley Bina: Ariana Grande
DJ Chello: Kid Cudi (as Scott Mescudi)
Sheriff Conlon: Erik Parillo
Phillip: Himesh Patel
June Mindy: Melanie Lynskey
Dan Pawketty: Michael Chiklis
Adul Grelio: Tomer Sisley
General Themes: Paul Guilfoyle
Congressman Tenant: Robert Joy
Oliver: Jack Alberts
Win: Ting
Daniel: Lance A Williams
Nisha: Shimali De Silva
Dr. Calder: Hettienne Park
NASA Scientist: Rafael Silva
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.