Written by one of the greatest living novelists, Cormac McCarthy and directed one of the best directors working today, Ridley Scott. The Counsellor follows an American counsellor as he gets involved in a drug deal, hoping to make a lot of money in a one time deal. I’ll avoid spoilers, but as you can imagine, his best laid plans soon unravel.
Where else to start with than the writing and the
screenplay. You are dropped right into the middle of this world of drug
dealers, corrupt middle men and assassins. There is little to no set up of the
main story or its central characters. You are told to keep up and forced
through this relentless terrifying descent into genuine horror.
The dialogue is beautiful throughout, although it does
depend on the actor to see just how good it is, and it is unlike anything you are likely to hear in
a film this year. The monologues, which there are a few of, can be distracting
and slow down the film at times, purely because they force you to really listen
to words and understand the gravity and emotion behind each of them. One phone
call is particularly hard to sit through, solely because of the actions and
consequences which have led to this moment and the event to follow.
The plot is relatively simple to follow, but because we don’t
come in at the start, you have to put together the pieces as the clues are drip
fed to you. Although it’s nice to not be swamped with exposition, I can’t help
but think that a few lines here and there would have gone a long way to making
this more accessible.
The cast for this film is impressive, to say the least. Led
by the stellar Michael Fassbender, whose arrogant law man starts off with the
world at his feet and feeling untouchable before the inevitable and subtly
delivered fall starts. Fassbender handles the unique dialogue well, giving the
elaborate sentences and monologues a human feel, bringing substance to the
style.Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem fill out the supporting male roles. As with Fassbender, they handle the dialogue with a smooth and confident air, letting the words flow out. But it is their characters facial expressions which really bring them to life. Pitts final scene is powerful and echoes words and advice he told to the counsellor at the start of the film. Bardems greatest moment is in a flash back, as he tells of a night with Malkina (Cameron Diaz) on a golf course. I won’t give away details, but he holds a look that encompasses fear, confusion and a little bit of disgust throughout it all.
Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz, who play the two main female
characters, fair in varying degrees with the dialogue, but both succeed with
the silent moments. Like their male counterparts, they bring them to life with
the simple gestures, smiles, glances or the wrinkle of a brow. It’s hard to go
into details about these two, as a lot of their best moments come late on and
would give away some key moments.
Visually this film is superb, as you would come to expect
from any Ridley Scott film, set mostly in the desert, Scott and Dariusz Wolski
make each barren landscape a pleasure to look at. Even when you know you
shouldn’t, or don’t want to. Decapitations and automobile based sexual
interactions have never been so beautifully shot.
The Counsellor
will worry you, confuse you, entertain you and scare you. Some will love it,
others will hate it. But you won’t find another film like it anywhere.
Just be warned, it is certainly not for the squeamish.
