The Oscar Project Reviews
This is a fascinating documentary look at the crazy media obsessed culture we live in today and the immediate effects our reliance on social media has on our ability to digest and be critical of information.
Wait, this isn't a documentary? That just makes it even more depressing. Don't Look Up is a fantastic political/social satire that gets right at the heart of the problems facing the world today. The horrible part about this film is that nearly every beat is fully believable. The pop-star going on a trendy talk show to spend 20 minutes discussing her recent public breakup followed by a short segment of the same show on a pending cataclysmic event that no one even pays attention to. Yet even as horrible as this is, it's also the genius of the film, getting us to look at this by presenting it in a way that is utterly ridiculous, but completely plausible at the same time. This film is unique in that nearly every character has their likeable moments and their moments when you hate their guts (yes, I said nearly for a reason). The cast is stellar from top to bottom including the likes of Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, and Jonah Hill. It's also nice to see several of these actors playing somewhat against their standard roles. Streep plays the ruthless president, more interested in her party winning the midterm elections than the end of the world. Even Chalamet sheds the meek young man and shows up in the final act as a grungy kid from the street stealing booze from the liquor store. My only qualm with the acting actually comes from DiCaprio's character, but it's more the script or the direction than Leo's fault. His portrayal of Dr. Randall Mindy at the beginning and end of the film is spot on, but he spends the middle third of the film in what seems like a different character that was cut from the script and blended into Dr. Mindy. That small qualm aside, the film made me laugh out loud, ponder my own technology usage, and wonder to myself how much of what we see on the screen actually goes on behind closed doors, or possibly even right out in the open, without most people even noticing. The film is a wake up call of sorts for me and one that will stick with me for some time to come. 9 out of 10
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