I wanted to like
The Counselor. I’ve read quite a bit
of acclaimed author Cormac McCarthy’s work, and was amazed at how brilliantly
the Coen brothers were able to capture the poetry in the violence with their
adaptation of No Country for Old Men.
The Counselor only further proves
what a delicate balance was needed for the material in No Country for Old Men, showing how difficult making a film out of
McCarthy’s material truly is. Sadly, Ridley Scott’s film proves this by being a
complete and utter failure.
The storyline is
rather simple, though you may not imagine it from the over-written dialogue
from McCarthy’s screenplay. While the adaptation previously done successfully
by the Coen brothers knew how to balance McCarthy’s distinct poetic speech
patterns with strong visual storytelling, Ridley Scott’s film is controlled by
the dialogue written by McCarthy. This means seemingly endless scenes of
double-talk and metaphors between unlikable characters until we are given relief
through death. Michael Fassbender heads up the cast as a lawyer with a happy
life alongside a woman he loves (Penélope Cruz) until the lifestyle is
threatened by a poor business decision.
Known only as
Counselor (Fassbender), this lawyer greedily utilizes his connections with the
criminal underworld to take part in drug trafficking with the Mexican drug
cartel. This risk does not pay off well for the counselor, thanks to the
untrustworthiness of the female companion to his business associate. Reiner (Javier
Bardem) is careless in his business transactions, allowing his diabolical
lover, Malkina (Cameron Diaz), the opportunity to stab all of the men in the
back. There is a lot of thinly-veiled foreshadowing before bad decisions lead
to brutal punishments from the faceless cartel.
This film is
ugly. The dialogue is mostly obnoxious, clearly better suited for a novel than
a screenplay, and Diaz is nearly unwatchable as the unforgivably one-sided
femme fatale. Even Brad Pitt’s confident appearance in the film does not save
the bleak pointlessness of the entire narrative. It is an ugly film leaving
audiences with nothing entertaining or redeeming to leave the theater with and
Ridley Scott seems to be dialing in his decisions as director. An unrated
extended cut is also available with the Blu-ray release, though all of the
additional material does nothing to help the pointlessness of McCarthy’s
narrative.
The two-disc
Blu-ray release includes the theatrical and extended cuts on separate discs.
The first disc, along with the theatrical cut, contains a few featurettes about
key characters in this unlikable story. The second disc has an extended cut
that is about 20-minutes longer, as well as a making-of feature combined with a
feature-length director’s commentary to make an immersive behind-the-scenes
viewing experience.
Entertainment Value:
4/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5.5/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Special Features: 7/10
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