Captain's Note: This be a movie review – but no spoilers here.
Last night, as the First Mate was away, the Captain searched Netflix for something to fill the time. Unlike sailors of old, I’m not much into scrimshaw or self-inflicted tattoos.
Having heard from a FB friend about the movie “Don’t Look Up” and how “disturbing” it was, I decided to stop there.
As if there is not enough “disturbing” stuff in my life.
It was, to say the least, disappointing.
For those who haven’t heard about it, “Don’t Look Up” is about a junior astronomer who discovered a new comet in the sky. The tension comes – even before the opening credits – when it is determined that the comet is on a collision course with the Earth and will definitely impact the earth in 6 months.
At 5-10 kilometers across, it would be “a planet killer”!
Oh, if only Morgan Freeman were still president!
Released just before Christmas 2021, “Don’t Look Up” was reportedly “the most talked-about movie of the year”.
That was likely due to an all-star cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Ariana Grande, Tyler Perry…
I could go on all day – literally! There were that many recognizable names in this movie.
Captain’s Note: It has long been my belief that when a director feels the need to front-load a movie with that many stars, you can bet the script sucks big time!
And I was right.
So, here’s the Captain’s complaint about the movie: all that star power was wasted.
For example, there was Melanie Lynskey, who I loved as Rose in the CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men”, the quirky and perky neighbor with a crush on Charlie Parker that rose to the level of stalking.
Unfortunately, she was not given to display any of that talent in this film.
Without exception, the characters were less than two-dimensional. From the astronomers to the talk show hosts to the President of the United States, none of the characters were sufficiently developed so that I even cared if their planet – my planet – was destroyed.
In fact, about midway through I was kinda hoping the comet would speed up just a little bit. At least in this case, end of the world also meant end of the movie!
The director, Adam McKay, reminded his critics that this film was intended to be satire. Sadly, he missed his mark.
What it turned out to be was a heavy-handed parody, largely targeting the Trumpf administration and the mindset of his MAGA supporters.
But it’s very difficult to parody what is already a parody.
Okay, “Saturday Night Live” does it pretty well…
Here’s the truth: We survived four years with Donald Trumpf as president - FOUR FREAKIN’ YEARS! - during which he told the American people more than 30,000 lies!
Yes, the lies were so obvious that people started counting!
Since being voted out of office in the 2020 election, he and his clown-car of sycophants have provided a non-stop flow of buffoonery. And, January 6th notwithstanding, his followers keep us in stitches with their blind allegiance to the failed liar-in-chief and their ignorant pronouncements.
Captain's Note: Should the Captain ever get a hook, I'm going to have to stop doing the "facepalm" so often!
That's how a pirate gets an eye patch!
After the past five years, we already know that should a comet come hurtling toward our planet, at least half the American population would deny its very existence, all the while trying to capitalize on the event.
Essentially, the script failed; McKay just held up a mirror to the American public.
But we're no longer laughing.
It’s kinda sad now.
So that's the Captain's review.
“Don’t Look Up”.
Watch it.
Don’t watch it.
I get paid the same.
