I'm not an easy review, especially when it comes to comedy. I'll say right off the start, I really enjoyed this movie A LOT. For me, this was the perfect combination of subject matter, laughter, and an all star cast.
The movie features actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Tyler Perry, Ariana Grande, and Ron Perlman just to name a few. You just don't see films anymore that are jam packed with so many great names.
I'm going to try and explain this movie without giving up many spoilers. The basic plot is a mullet wearing Michigan State student (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers a comet heading towards Earth. She contacts her college professor (Leonardo DiCaprio) to confirm. They not only confirm the comet, but after doing a little math they both realize the comet is on a collision course for earth! They also realize due to the size of the comet, it will likely be an extinction level event.
This doesn't sound like a very funny plot, I mean we're talking extinction level comets hitting earth. That can't possibly be funny, right? WRONG! This makes for a hysterical plot. Think current world events meet Idiocracy (the famous movie directed by Mike Judge creator of Beavis and Butthead)
The whole plot reminds me of everything that is happening with the Global Warming debate, and of course Corona Virus and every other hot button issue that gets politicized by the government and the press.
When they discover the comet will hit earth they contact the proper authorities and get a meeting with the President (played by Meryl Streep) and her son (Jonah Hill). It's just before the election primaries and as the student and professor explain that the comet is heading towards earth to wipe us all out, the President and her son are more concerned about how it will affect their ratings in the primaries if they release information that the world will end. (Priorities right)
Both the professor and the student are horrified by the presidents reaction and to make matters worse they tell them the entire matter is now classified and they cant talk to anyone about it or they'll go to jail.
At this point you have to ask yourself what you would if you were put in that situation. Do you leak it to the press and risk spending the rest of your life in jail or do you keep your mouth shut until after the primaries?
Hilarity ensues from here on out. After it finally hits the press, nobody is taking it seriously. Conspiracy theorists begin to tell people there is no comet and the government wants them scared so they can take away their rights. (Starting to sound familiar?) You get the point.
Seriously, if it wasn't a comedy, you almost have to wonder if this could happen in this day and age. It's probably NOT that far off from reality at this point either.
I'm sure you get the idea. I'm just going to leave it here because I don't want to give away the entire movie.
According to IMDb the movie won 7 awards and was up for 36 nominations. It was 2h 18m long and I remained interested and laughing throughout the entirety of the movie. I will admit though, at times it did trigger me because I could just imagine this idiocy taking place in real life.
If you enjoy satire and comedy and enjoy laughing at the crazy world we're currently living in, I would highly recommend this movie. I found it funny, engaging, well produced and filled with all kinds of real life parallels. This is one of those movies that I will probably watch several times over the years. I could also see this becoming a classic comedy of this era. It really was the perfect example of art imitating life!
