Review of The Counselor (2013) by Spangle — 21 Dec 2016

The Counselor is a verbose, overstuffed, yet disastrously terrific work from Ridley Scott. Densely written by Cormac McCarthy, The Counselor shows that McCarthy was not willing to compromise his style in translating it to the screen. With SAT words aplenty, McCarthy's script is alien with characters forced to say lines that no human being in these situations would ever dream of actually speaking. However, in doing so, McCarthy sets up The Counselor to be a film that is not some crime drama, but instead a poetic and mythical film that hardly bears any resemblance to reality. That said, this language - as it is in his novels - is beautiful to hear. Though it is this language that undeniably contributes to the film's divisiveness, it is also its problems with apparent filler and its incoherent narrative. What is not for debate, however, is the brilliance of the acting. They take this messy material and turn it into a chaotically beautiful work that, though flawed, will likely become a favorite of cinephiles for years to come for the very flaws that it has.

The Counselor's message is clear and brought forth by Cameron Diaz at the very end. Those who are cowards will be eaten by the predators in this world. In the world created by Ridley Scott and Cormac McCarthy, the predators are the cartel. Brutal and unrelenting, they kill with an odd sort of beauty that turns murder and maiming into a sort of art. It is with this in mind that the film approaches its subjects. Led by the Counselor (Michael Fassbender), a smart and capable lawyer distracted by greed to become richer, he is undoubtedly a coward. He may pretend to be ready to help run drugs into the country with the help of Reiner (Javier Bardem) and Westray (Brad Pitt), but he is not. He is more content with living and loving his fiancee Laura (Penelope Cruz). However, he enters the game anyways and quickly gets bitten by his cowardice. Afraid and unaware of his situation, the Counselor is effectively a jackrabbit that does not know a cheetah is creeping up behind it ever so slowly. Instead, he is forced to live in agony as he waits for what is around the corner. By the time he figures out death is approaching him, it has become an inevitability. Fassbender plays this deer in the headlights type of role incredibly well, as always, but his terrific performance is certainly matched by Bardem. Extravagant and certainly an odd guy, Bardem plays the role perfectly for the character.

The film is stolen, however, by the performance of Cameron Diaz. A career-best performance, her cold and calculating Malkina is the predator. The lover of Reiner, who owns two cheetahs, Malkina herself has a cheetah spotting tattoo that runs down the length of her body. Intensely sexual, Malkina herself links sensuality with the beauty of a predator stalking its prey and she herself defines this characteristic. Her sexual behavior is animalistic and unhinged, designed to scare the cowardice out of her mates. When stalking her prey, she is efficient and smart. While the cartels loom, Malkina is unafraid and hell-bent on securing her own desires. In this role, Diaz is oddly intimidating. She plays the role of the sexed up villain incredibly well with an ability to make any situation uncomfortable for those around her.

Yet, the film is flawed. With scenes one could chalk up as filler, such as those with John Leguizamo and Dean Norris, as well as one where Cameron Diaz goes to church, The Counselor is certainly not tight. It is often unfocused and diverting. A slow-burn, The Counselor pays off those willing to wait for it to find itself, but for those unwilling, The Counselor will be a major turn off. However, there is beauty in these flaws. Where the film bloats, it allows for characters to become more developed. Where the film is slow and meandering, it is an excuse for McCarthy to pen gorgeous dialogue as only he can and is an excuse to spend more time in this world. Here, the film truly becomes a diamond, which is a major element of the film. As told to the Counselor (Fassbender's character) by a Dutch diamond dealer (Bruno Ganz), the more flawed diamonds have a far higher value due to those flaws and imperfections. This is the case for the film itself as its flaws make oddly make it more beautiful than it could be if it were perfect. What certainly does not hurt this beauty either is the cinematography. Capitalizing on the beautiful people, set designs, and the spacious desert, The Counselor is an absolutely beautiful film to look at all times and is visually engrossing in this regard.

A slow burn thriller, The Counselor is a convoluted and confusing film, but at its very core, it is simply a film about hunters closing in on its prey. What makes it a very good film, however, is McCarthy's script. Here, McCarthy finds poetry in the chaos on screen and brings out the beauty and artistry of the hunt.