by Joseph Rossi
On a purely cinematic level, Ridley Scott’s The Counselor is aces. It’s a beautiful piece of work to look at at. Scott, as always, is on top of his game with his visuals. Too bad that’s where the fun stops. This is low level Ridley, slumming it. But slumming it is being a little too nice. This isn’t a guilty pleasure a-la his late brother Tony Scott. I’d say it’s his worst film he’s ever done. How could it be possible? It has top stars, an amazing director, a script by American legend Cormac McCarthy, sex, violence, you name it. All the stuff of a sure fire Hollywood blockbuster. The problem is that we just don’t care.
Michael Fassbender’s character, who goes by “The Counselor”, is an obviously wealthy socialite with a hot fiancée (Penelope Cruz) who wants in a drug deal that will make him even richer. Ignoring advice from his old friend and client, the obviously crooked and lavish Reiner (Javier Bardem) he still goes along with his plan and gets sucked into a darker and more treacherous world of greed and death. Perfect McCarthy. But this is Cormac lite compared to the previous cinematic versions of his work. No Country for Old Men and The Road were better examples of films that did him justice. Irony is that he himself wrote this dreck.
One can’t complain about the quality of the cast. Fassbener does solid work here. He’s rather the more ordinary person in this gallery of weirdo’s. It’s more the supporting roles that stand out. Bardem is his usual crazed self, sporting another weird hairdo. He pairs nicely with his partner Malkina, played with a crazed sexual intensity by Cameron Diaz. Rosie Perez makes a very welcome appearance as one of the counselor’s clients and who for me, did some of the films best acting in what could have been a small and thankless role. Brad Pitt shows up as the mysterious Westray, a middle man in this whole world of drugs and intrigue.
I guess my beef with the film is that it’s just not that interesting. Rich people double-crossing other rich people, who both in turn drive luxury cars and dress in the obvious product placed garments, really don’t earn my sympathy. What a missed opportunity.
