Film review: Don’t Look Up
Sprawling apocalypse comedy starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence

Sixty million Americans tuned into the sitcom I Love Lucy during its run from 1951 to 1957, said Brian Viner in the Daily Mail. If it passed you by, Being the Ricardos “may not tempt” – but it’s sure to “enthral” fans. A “compelling” study of the relationship between the show’s stars, the legendary Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and her Cuban husband Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem), the film unfolds over the course of one tumultuous week in the run-up to the broadcast of a live episode.
The film is full of “rat-a-tat wit”, as you’d expect from writer-director Aaron Sorkin, the creator of The West Wing, said Robbie Collin in The Daily Telegraph; but sadly, Being the Ricardos doesn’t offer much else. The film crunches three crises that happened in real life into one week: Ball is pregnant, “at a time when the word ‘pregnant’ can’t even be said on TV”; a magazine is reporting that Arnaz has been unfaithful; and rumours are swirling that Ball is a communist – no small matter, during the McCarthy era. Yet the plot advances at a “treacly crawl”, as the mounting panic in the present is interspersed with flashbacks fleshing out Ball’s professional past. Kidman’s presence doesn’t help. Her casting was controversial, because she looks so little like Ball; but in trying to cover up that problem, with clever make-up and prosthetics, the producers have created a new one – a star who no longer looks herself, and who exudes “deepfake creepiness”.
Ultimately the film doesn’t really “function as a biopic”, said Clarisse Loughrey in The Independent. Sorkin isn’t interested in “deepening our understanding of who Ball and Arnaz were”. He has always been more interested in words than ideas, and his film is best seen as a drama about the “mechanics of comedy writing”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Exploring Georgia's southern highlands
The Week Recommends Visit Javakheti, Georgia's 'lake district', and meet the last-remaining 'spirit wrestlers' in the region
-
Delivery drivers face continuing heat danger with Trump's OSHA pick
The Explainer David Keeling is the former head of UPS and also worked at Amazon
-
Is that the buzzing sound of climate change worsening sleep apnea?
Under the radar Catching diseases, not those ever-essential Zzs
-
Exploring Georgia's southern highlands
The Week Recommends Visit Javakheti, Georgia's 'lake district', and meet the last-remaining 'spirit wrestlers' in the region
-
Music reviews: Bruce Springsteen and Benson Boone
Feature "Tracks II: The Lost Albums" and "American Heart"
-
Thomas Mallon's 6 favorite books from the 80's and early 90's
Feature The author recommends works by James Merrill, Calvin Trillin, and more
-
The tourist flood in the Mediterranean: can it be stemmed?
Talking Point Finger-pointing at Airbnb or hotel owners obscures the root cause of overtourism in holiday hotspots: unmanageable demand
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Axel Scheffler picks his favourite books
The Week Recommends From Steig to Finkelstein, the award-winning illustrator shares his top picks
-
Lovestuck: a 'warm-hearted' musical with a 'powerhouse score'
The Week Recommends Team behind the hit podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno have created a hilarious show about a disastrous viral Tinder date
-
Outrageous: glossy Mitford family drama is full of 'fun, fashion and froth'
The Week Recommends Adaptation of Mary Lovell's biography examines the scandalous lives of the aristocratic sisters