Why Don’t Look Up’s Reviews Are So Mixed

Adam McKay’s newest satire Don’t Look Up has been released in select theatres, and it has been met with mixed reviews from critics ahead of its wide release on Netflix. Written and directed by Oscar-winner Adam McKay and featuring an all-star ensemble cast, Don’t Look Up is an undisguised lampoon of the climate crisis. The story follows two low-level astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) desperately attempting to warn the whole world about its impending doom, via a quickly approaching comet. Meryl Streep plays the intransigent president of the United States, and Jonah Hill plays her obnoxious son who also serves as her chief of staff. The film also features Cate Blanchett, Timothée Chalamet, Tyler Perry, Mark Rylance, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Ron Perlman, and a coterie of other recognizable stars.

Adam McKay began his career writing at Saturday Night Live, and he made a name for himself writing and directing over-the-top comedies, usually starring Will Ferrell – such as in the movies Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, and more. In the last few years, he has made the transition to prestige director and screenwriter, as both The Big Short and Vice were lauded at the Oscars. Don’t Look Up straddles the line between comedy and drama, with mixed success.

Although expectations were high for Don’t Look Up‘s star-studded cast and Oscar-winning screenwriter, the critical response has been very mixed. At the time of writing, Don’t Look Up holds a 56% on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 102 reviews), which just about ties it with Adam McKay’s lowest-rated film Step Brothers. Although the film has been divisive, those who appreciated Don’t Look Up found it to be an unconventional, relevant, and entertaining vehicle for its cast and message. Here’s what some of the positive reviews for Don’t Look Up have said.

Screen Rant:

The film is the ultimate disaster movie, timely in its subject matter and ambitious in its execution. Don’t Look Up can be increasingly outrageous, but it’s fair to say that it parallels reality in the way things play out, which turns even its funniest moments into chilling ones. Bolstered by a fantastic cast, McKay’s film is bold, with sharp commentary, feelings of unease, and comedic beats that work to make a memorable film.

San Francisco Chronicle:

Don’t Look Up might be the funniest movie of 2021. It’s the most depressing too, and that odd combination makes for a one-of-a-kind experience. Writer-director Adam McKay gives you over two hours of laughs while convincing you that the world is coming to an end.

The Washington Post:

Not content with simply stoking rage and self-righteous superiority, McKay dares to infuse “Don’t Look Up” with an authentic, unironic sense of grief. Sincerity might be the most daring move of all in a film that, at its angriest and most amusing, doesn’t mind tacking perilously close to real life.

Empire:

Don’t Look Up takes the pulse of contemporary life and finds it crazy, scary and, most of all, funny. It doesn’t all land but enough does to make it a sharp, bold, star-studded treat.

Most of the critics can agree that the performances shine in Don’t Look Up, including Meryl Streep’s memorable turn as the president. The most divisive element of the film by far is the effectiveness of the satire. While some found McKay’s comet metaphor poignant and chilling, others wrote it off as ham-fisted and trite. Many critics found the film to be overlong and poorly paced, likening it to a Saturday Night Live sketch that won’t end. Here’s what some of the negative Don’t Look Up reviews have to say:

AV Club:

Don’t Look Up is both types of blunt: It makes no bones about exactly what the filmmakers think of climate-change deniers and social-media distractions, and it repeatedly blunts the impact of its satire by calling its shots early, often, and loudly.

Time:

Instead of using the movie’s laborious more-than-two-hour runtime to allow his ideas to unfold, MacKay hits you with most of them in the first half hour. Being clonked with a meteor would be more subtle.

Vanity Fair:

His film needn’t have offered some actionable strategy for combating climate change apathy, but it could have been more daring or nuanced in its targeting of that indifference. Simply making fun of pop stars and pundits and Trumpism is easy and ineffectual, as either parody or polemic.

IndieWire:

It isn’t smart enough to be a wakeup call or shocking enough to scare people straight, but in the early days of a century in which the world has become a farce of itself and comedians are the only people still afforded $75 million to make serious-minded original cinema, maybe all we can do with the time that remains is stare at our screens and lament how we got here.

Ultimately, Don’t Look Up has critics divided, with McKay’s satire leaving some disappointed and others stunned. Most can agree that the film has its moments, largely thanks to an incredible cast, but whether those moments add up to a film that works seems to be a matter of taste. Given that the film is set to be released on Netflix on December 24, viewers will soon get the chance to decide for themselves if McKay’s latest is a heavy-handed flop or a biting success.

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