Tab Ballis

I have not seen a pandemic-era film that captures the dynamic tension between hyperbole and complacency as effectively as the new Netflix movie Don't Look Up... a loosely-veiled homage to the adversarial relationship between science and politics in the previous administration, with the impending doom re-cast in the form of "a comet the size of Mt. Everest" hurtling towards Earth. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence give countertypical performances as the university professor and graduate student who discover the comet and embark on a futile effort to motivate government action to prevent an "extinction-level event." Meryl Streep gives a hauntingly familiar rendition of an egotistical, impulsive, hedonistic, bleach-blonde president whose only interest in the comet is how it may help her approval ratings and supreme court nomination... along with her dim-witted son serving as chief-of staff, played by a ballcap-wearing Jonah Hill. Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry round out the stellar cast, as cable TV anchors intent on deriving the maximum entertainment value from this doomsday... along with Blanchett's personal desire to bed DiCaprio's "sexiest scientist in America" character. You can thoroughly enjoy Don't Look Up for the great special effects, the hilarious caricature of our shared experience, and memorable lines, like Lawrence's resignation to a sexual fling with a random street bum, "What the hell, we're all going to die soon." But save your attention. and a box of tissues, for the climactic scene, where DiCaprio has one last supper with his estranged wife, adult kids, and some colleagues, as the shock wave of the comet's impact closes the curtain.