What's The Worst That Could Happen
Kevin learns about Max from his friend Berger, a fellow thief who happens to know what places to hit. Berger tells him about Max's current situation with his company, as well as what he couldn't access due to the critical condition of the chapter 11 bankruptcy code, which includes going into his beachfront mansion. When the two go to rob Max, Max manages to capture Kevin and call the police. Before the police take Kevin away, Max spots Amber's ring and tells the police that the ring was also stolen, forcing Kevin to hand over the ring. After escaping from the police, Kevin returns to the beach house to get his ring back from Max, but fails to find him. Angry at Max, Kevin finishes off what he started by robbing Max of the valuables inside the house and one of Max's three cars outside. Kevin tells Amber that the ring was stolen from him.
What's the Worst That Could Happen
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film an unfavorable review, stating that there were "too many characters, not enough plot, and a disconnect between the two stars' acting styles". Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly also gave the film a negative review and said, "Maybe the worst thing that can happen is that every other movie at the multiplex will be sold out this weekend."[4]
The main problem with this oft-asked question is that its entire purpose is to make us imagine worst-case scenarios. It can cause us to catastrophize all the bad things that might happen should we take the scary, less-trodden route.
Leigh outlines the biggest existential risks facing humanity and suggests remedies for them. He discusses pandemics, considering the possibility that the next virus will be more deadly than COVID-19; warns that unchecked climate change could render large swaths of the earth uninhabitable; describes the metamorphosis of the arms race from a fight into a chaotic brawl; and examines the dangers of runaway superintelligence. Moreover, Leigh points out, populism (and its crony, totalitarianism) not only exacerbates other dangers but is also a risk factor in itself, undermining the institutions of democracy as we watch.
"What's the Worst That Could Happen?" has too many characters, not enough plot, and a disconnect between the two stars' acting styles. Danny DeVito plays a crooked millionaire, Martin Lawrence plays a smart thief, and they seem to be in different pictures. DeVito as always is taut, sharp, perfectly timed. Lawrence could play in the same key (and does, in an early scene during an art auction), but at other times he bursts into body language that's intended as funny but plays more like the early symptoms of St. Vitus' Dance.
The plot involves Lawrence as a clever thief named Kevin Caffery, who frequents auctions to find out what's worth stealing. At an art auction, he meets Amber Belhaven (Carmen Ejogo), who is in tears because she has to sell the painting her father left her; she needs money for the hotel bill. She has good reason to be in tears. The painting, described as a fine example of the Hudson River School, goes for $3,000; some members of the audience will be thinking that's at least $30,000 less than it's probably worth.
What on Earth is the worst thing that could happen? A meteor could strike the globe like a million hydrogen bombs. Political instability might lead to nuclear holocaust. An animal-to-human supervirus might rip pandemically across continents.
Philosophy in its dispassionate way has sometimes considered these disasters by way of thought experiments. These can be philosophically fruitful even when the envisaged possibilities are unlikely or even crazy. However, the scientific consensus on climate change gives a very real edge to projected global calamity. What will actually happen is not known in detail. Still, scientific concern is reaching such a pitch that some are now talking only about mitigating the consequences of climate change rather than reversing or halting it. Our reflective engagement with what ultimately matters has acquired an increasingly urgent existential dimension.
But surely, you will say, the question of what is right and wrong is not the only fundamental question to be pursued. Human beings have made enormous progress with other scientific and philosophical questions. Who could confidently dismiss the possibility that future discoveries may make present-day achievement in physics appear modest? Or fail to see that technology may allow us to create new forms of art which provide profound fresh insights into the world and the human condition?
Knowing your worst-case scenario is good but knowing how to mitigate your worst-case scenario is even better. Take precautions against the worst that could happen and open your merchandising up for the best that could happen.
When faced with potential adversity or anticipated worry, try imagining the worst thing that could happen. This strategy for approaching your worries can help you to maintain an assertive, self-determining attitude even in the presence of very real and serious fears and threats. 041b061a72