By Brett Blake I’m not sure where to begin with Ridley Scott’s THE COUNSELOR. That’s probably a side effect of not fully knowing whether I even liked it or not. It’s well-made, to be sure, and it has some absolutely tremendous moments, but its utterly black, grim heart should make it nearly unapproachable for most people in the audience. I make a habit of being pretty “bare bones” when I describe the plots of films in these reviews, and that’s really easy for this one, as the plot and its mechanics are presented in such an oblique manner as to be almost perfunctory. We meet the titular Counselor (who’s never given a proper name), played by Michael Fassbender, as he embarks on a drug deal of some sort (don’t expect the movie to provide many details in this area) with Reiner (Javier Bardem) and Westray (Brad Pitt). When the deal goes bad, the three men find themselves - and their loved ones - in extreme danger. As I said, “bare bones.” The plot exists mainly as a springboard for a series of long dialogue scenes between the actors; luckily, most of these sequences really crackle and have an edge to them that’s great. The dialogue writing, particularly, is exceptional, and if the movie has anything worthwhile to offer, it's watching great actors sink their collective teeth into said excellent dialogue. Speaking of the actors, Fassbender’s a solid lead, but he’s somewhat undercut by the screenplay (from author Cormac McCarthy), which treats him as a bit of a cipher. Fassbender’s good enough to get us to invest in him, to be concerned about the situation he’s gotten himself into, but there’s not a whole lot there on the page. Pitt’s also good, and his two big scenes with Fassbender are highlights of the film. The same goes for Bardem, whose character is actually a bit of a riot, bringing some much-needed levity to the proceedings at key points. Cameron Diaz pops up as Bardem’s girlfriend, a femme fatale-ish character that Diaz feels somewhat miscast in; she does what’s asked of her, but it’s all kind of one-note. THE COUNSELOR is perhaps most interesting when looked at in the context of director Ridley Scott’s entire body of work. He’s most known, probably, for his “bigger” films, movies like BLADE RUNNER, GLADIATOR, and KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, but he’s equally at home with more grounded stories, such as THELMA & LOUISE and MATCHSTICK MEN. He’s worked in virtually every genre, from science fiction, to urban warfare, to historical epics, to light comedies, and he’s excelled in pretty much all of them. But whether he’s going bigger or smaller, his films have always carried his thumbprint to some degree… until THE COUNSELOR. In style and tone, it feels nothing like any of his previous works; it’s totally unlike anything he’s done before. This is both a good and bad thing. It’s good because it’s always fun to see a director step out of his comfort zone. It’s also a bad thing in this case because - in the process of stepping outside his usual style - Scott has presented us with one of the most mean-spirited and angry mainstream films I’ve seen in years. Nihilistic is a word that doesn’t really begin to describe the depths of the grimness on display; the film’s an almost despairing look at humanity (or inhumanity, if you prefer), and that makes for a really tough watch. Now, I’m not one to usually have a problem with a film this dark as long as it’s serving a purpose; in this case, I’m confident Scott and writer McCarthy absolutely see it as having deep thematic meaning, and perhaps I’ll one day see that meaning for myself. For right now, though, it feels like it’s dour simply for the sake of being dour. There’s also the issue of the ending, which I can’t imagine many people would find satisfying in any way. Not because of what happens to any of the characters, but for the place the film chooses to resolve itself and cut to black. Those who remember the somewhat abrupt (though, in that case, enormously thematically resonant) ending to NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (based on McCarthy’s novel) will look back fondly on that climax after having seen the oblique and arbitrary denouement presented here. It seems designed purely to frustrate, irritate, and otherwise piss off its audience with the total lack of closure. And again, this is perfectly acceptable if it serves a point (as NO COUNTRY’s ending does); in THE COUNSELOR, it just feels like a gimmick. Having said all of that, it probably looks like I should have hated this movie, but I really didn’t. The actors and their dialogue really save it. Plus, the film’s beautifully photographed, as is usually the case with Ridley Scott’s movies, and at a tight 111 minutes, it’s briskly edited while allowing the lengthy conversational scenes to breathe. THE COUNSELOR is a classic mixed bag. It’s too well-made to ignore and has great individual moments and sections, but it’s nowhere near a movie that I could imagine anyone saying they “loved.” It’s a film most people, I’m sure, will not like much at all. It’s just way too bleak. Speaking for myself, I liked it more than I disliked it, I suppose... but only just barely.
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