“The Counselor” opens up with a magnificent scene of and
sexual intimacy so skillfully acted by Michael Fassbender and Penélope Cruz, it
makes us believe that not only will this movie live up to the promise of the
trailer, it might even exceed it. And for the first intriguing hour, it does
succeed in drawing us into the decadent and dangerous world of high-end money
players in the illicit crime world of the drug trade. But then, just as the
second act inciting incident occurs, instead of building on the narrative
momentum established, the film falls completely flat, wallowing in its
bleakness without any rhyme or reason.
“The Counselor” tells the story of high-powered attorney who
decides to get involved in a one-time only illegal deal with some of the
powerful and connected cliental he represents. Michael Fassbender plays the
title character with a simmering charisma and makes an excellent guide for the
audience as he navigates through a landscape of materialistic excesses and colorful
criminals who spout philosophical soliloquies and confess about bizarre sexual
adventures. And throughout the first half of the film, it all appears to be
working as director Ridley Scott stages the scenes with the customary flair we
have come to expect from the visual auteur.
The writer of the movie is a highly acclaimed novelist and
screenwriter and the winner of a Pulitzer Prize. But when it comes to
evaluating the story and the choices made by Cormac McCarthy (or whoever did whatever
uncredited rewrites there may have been), there is no kind way to put it. The
screenplay is a mess. Midway through the second act all the cinematic energy
built up in the first act vanishes and the movie comes to a standstill both
emotionally and from a narrative perspective.
What is worse—what little action that does happen completely betrays
what we learned earlier in the film.
Understand, this is not a terrible movie. The first half of
the film is entertaining and the performances are memorable. There are even a
few early scenes that could be called great. Still, this neo-noir Western
material was covered with far better focus in Oliver Stone’s wickedly
entertaining and criminally underrated “Savages” (2011).
This is a difficult film to rate. Under the old school four
star system this would be a classic 2 ½ stars. Under the five star system I will give
three stars and recommend it—with the strong reservations listed above—to
hardcore fans of genre—and for the work of Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Javier
Bardem, and Brad Pitt.
No comments:
Post a Comment