‘No fear. Just like Tom fucking Cruise...’
Consensus is a rare thing in any medium, particularly in these fractured times, and I can’t remember a level of consensus in the last decade that can match the breathless, rapturous reaction that One Battle After Another has received throughout its theatrical run. Even Oppenheimer wasn’t greeted with such instant deification. Could it possibly live up to the hype? I’m still not sure about that, but it is very, very good…
I’ll keep things light on plot as this is a pretty dense film and none of us has all day. The bare bones of it are this. Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a washed-up former member of a revolutionary group, attempts to live a simple life with his daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). This all comes crashing down when Bob, struggling with both substance and alcohol issues, suddenly appears back on the radar of the wrong people. The starry cast is rounded out by Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Regina Hall.
While I fully accept that Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the most important directors of his generation, and I’ve loved some of his work, I’ve never really appreciated his oeuvre in the same way I know many others have. One Battle After Another draws from farcical capers such as The Big Lebowski and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (DiCaprio is very much drawing from The Dude in his performance here), as well as big ensemble crime films such as LA. Confidential, but at the same time, it doesn’t really feel like those films all that much. This is very much its own thing. And PTA definitely has something to say here. This is probably his angriest movie. Subjects of his ire include the new left (whiny crybabies), the old left (jaded sellouts), the ultra rich (unscrupulous weirdos with blood on their hands) and many others in between. Crucially, unlike say Ari Aster with Eddington (a far inferior film to this one), this reckoning with the State of Things never feels didactic, and even more importantly, it never feels bigger than the narrative. The film started out life as a series of short stories that were all eventually interwoven together, and this is perhaps why, even at almost three hours, it never drags. I was fully invested throughout. It helps that the cast are brilliantly chosen, with Penn delivering his best performance in years and Del Toro stealing every scene in which he appears. Infiniti is also great. As is Regina Hall. This is a collection of widely regarded actors all firing on full cylinders. It’s a joy to behold.
One Battle After Another (almost) has it all. It looks absolutely incredible. There are some truly breathtaking shots here. It’s a truly unique narrative. Beautifully performed. Johnny Greenwood’s mesmerising score is some of his finest work. And yet… this film rarely moved me. I was exhilarated (I watched this on my own at a half-empty afternoon screening and was still utterly absorbed). I laughed a lot. I shook my head at the audacity of it all. But was I moved? Hmm. Not really. Now, not every film can be everything to everyone, but PTA’s latest has been sold as the perfect movie. For my money, it’s not quite as good as all that, but it’s still vital, bravura filmmaking. Go see it. And have a few small beers while you watch it.
