Film: “Don’t Look Up” with Leonardo diCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence

directed by Adam Mackay

What would you do if you were a scientist

who learned a comet would strike earth six months from now and the entire planet would be destroyed? Hide under the bed? Shout it from the rooftops?

That’s the question facing Randall and Kate (Leonardo diCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence), two Michigan State scientists who are the protagonists in “Don’t Look Up,” Adam McKay’s mordant satire, currently on Netflix and in theaters.

When Randall and Kate go to the White House to deliver their findings, they discover Madame President (Meryl Streep) is more worried about the upcoming midterm elections than a comet headed for earth. Her smug chief-of-staff (Jonah Hill) gives the two astronomers one condescending look and sneers, “Michigan State?”

Next, they make a guest appearance on a chirpy morning TV show, where Jack and Brie, the happy-talk hosts (Tyler Perry and Cate Blanchett) ignore the gravity of the situation, preferring to chat about the breakup of pop singer Riley Bina and rapper DJ Chelly (Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi). Brie has her eye on Randall, as do millions of female viewers. The plainspoken small-town dude from Michigan is soon dubbed “America’s sexiest astronomer.”

When Randall and Kate’s warnings are finally taken seriously, the White House enlists Dr. Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance), the “visionary” CIO of a tech firm known as Bash—an obvious poke at Alphabet/Meta/Twitter/etc. From then on, it’s fasten your seatbelts.

The acting is superb all around. J-Law and Leo have never been better (Leo’s rant reminded me of Howard Beale’s in “Network”). If Cate Blanchett does not knock Mika Brzezinski to a tee, I’ll eat my bike helmet. Candidly, Timothee Chalomet’s bit as an Evangelical skater dude was for me a bit of a stretch.

The plot is far-fetched. The cynicism is over-the-top. There are big lulls in the breakneck pacing. But what the movie gets exactly right is America’s tendency to hide her head in the sand in the face of impending disasters like global warming. It also nails the politicization of science—something we see during Covid times.

Clearly, if there were ever a right time for a film like DLU, it is now. Listen to your better angels, and see it.