This image released by Netflix shows Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky, Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr. Randall Mindy, and Rob Morgan as Dr. Clayton “Teddy” Oglethorp in a scene from “Don’t Look Up.” (Niko Tavernise/Netflix via AP) 12/13/2021: This image released by Netflix shows Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy and Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky in a scene from “Don’t Look Up.” Niko Tavernise / Netflix This image released by Netflix shows Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy and Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky in a scene from “Don’t Look Up.” Niko Tavernise / Netflix This image released by Netflix shows Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky, Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr. Randall Mindy, and Rob Morgan as Dr. Clayton “Teddy” Oglethorp in a scene from “Don’t Look Up.” Niko Tavernise – handout one time use, Netflix This image released by Netflix shows Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky, Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr. Randall Mindy, and Rob Morgan as Dr. Clayton “Teddy” Oglethorp in a scene from “Don’t Look Up.” Niko Tavernise – handout one time use, Netflix This image released by Netflix shows Cate Blanchett as Brie Evantee, Tyler Perry as Jack Bremmer, Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy and Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky in a scene from “Don’t Look Up.” Niko Tavernise – handout one time use, Netflix This image released by Netflix shows Cate Blanchett as Brie Evantee, Tyler Perry as Jack Bremmer, Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy and Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky in a scene from “Don’t Look Up.” Niko Tavernise – handout one time use, Netflix This image released by Netflix shows Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy in a scene from “Don’t Look Up.” Niko Tavernise – handout one time use, Netflix This image released by Netflix shows Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy in a scene from “Don’t Look Up.” Niko Tavernise – handout one time use, Netflix This image released by Netflix shows Meryl Streep as President Janie Orlean in a scene fro
Director Adam McKay’s climate satire “Don’t Look Up” isn’t exactly subtle. The hair is big, the parody obvious, the targets as plentiful as the star-studded cast competing for space — and the planet is about to explode.
The whole enterprise is a monument to anger and frustration, which may explain why environmental scientists have warmed to the film more than film critics. Whether through the missteps of the protagonists or those of the filmmaker, it also offers a valuable lesson on the all-too-real challenges of spreading the word about the need for urgent global action against climate change.
The storyline of this Netflix dark comedy is simple enough: A Ph.D. student (Jennifer Lawrence) and a timid astronomy professor (Leonardo DiCaprio) have discovered a giant comet that is going to hit Earth within little more than six months. Everyone will die. Yet they can’t convince anyone, least of all the populist, chain-smoking U.S. president, played by Meryl Streep, to take the right course of action. The media is too distracted and everyone else just wants to make money, once the asteroid is found to contain rare earths and minerals.
The movie does get some important things right. It captures the difficulty of expressing a message so overwhelming for our narrow imaginations that it very often triggers not action, but indifference or despair — just as it does on the screen. The exasperation so palpable through the film is a daily reality for those working in climate policy. People really do hear only what they want to hear, as when Streep’s president hangs on to the news that the comet’s certainty is just below 100% — “call it 70% and let’s move on” — ignoring the scientists sitting in front of her. The film portrays the siren call of unproven “win-win” technology and the toxicity of bothsideism. As in real life, the fight between the researchers and political and economic interests is asymmetric.
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