It struggles to be legitimately funny but does provide plenty of smirks and huffs, pushing rather to be distinctly pointed and mildly clever. Yeah, it’s laid on thick and definitely hits close to home enough to ruffle feathers, but when examined in the same sardonic & satirical lens as a classic like Dr. Strangelove, I found it more endearing than grating.
It is very heavy handed, but that is also the point. Allusions a whisper shy of blatant shouts. I can see how that might now work for many but I wasn’t put off this time. Mind you, I didn’t love it, because it was a bit much overall, but just not too much.
The acting was fairly spot on, with DiCaprio suitably adrift in the madness, Lawrence acutely anxiously aggrieved, Streep flippant, and Jonah Hill properly maddening. The passion, pity and perturbance are all properly portrayed.
The whole thing is about pushing buttons, ideally the PANIC one for us all, but I could see many hitting the STOP one instead. This isn’t “on the nose” but rather a rubbing our faces in it, while being so acrid and exasperating, once can sympathize with the distaste of it all. But sometimes we need to drink the righteous slurry that we made of our own ignorance and willfulness. This glimpse of the choking bile that will drown us all had enough sweetness for me.
