Review of The Counselor (2013) by Robert J — 16 Mar 2014

"Counselor" is a complete movie. It is a brilliant film too. Complete, because it has everything that should have a movie, a brilliant, because all of these items are made of the best as you can imagine.

First of all, the movie delights characters - even secondary hero, appearing on the screen even for a few minutes, tells his story. One can even imagine a series of movies or just a series in which each of the characters tells his story. Even illegal immigrants on the Mexican-American border near Juarez tell their own story. They are vibrant, colorful and juicy - every person in the movie is the truest of the true. Each different from the other and characteristically played by the actor assigned to it. This is the second wonderful thing in the film - well-chosen and solidly played roles. And once the third point - you can see the hand of Master in directing. He guides actors, puts them into appropriate roles and carefully ensures that they not only fit their roles well, but they wore they throughout the film like a second skin. There is no room for any bounces or individual acting performances - all playing like in the orchestra performed under the old stager director's baton. This applies to both the main characters and secondary characters, such as for example, dressed as a policeman killer on the highway (wering a cowboy hat and white shirt who reflects a truck doing a bloody carnage on and by the way). Each of the characters has a role to play, everyone uses his actor skills and - next thing worth highlight - brilliant dialogue. Dialogues are also strong point of the film. Words are well balanced, the film is not wordy, and at the same time endeavoring to often funny, real gems. Perhaps the most seemingly trivial or ridiculous monologue or dialogue brings important issues to the story. Only in the final, climactic moments, the viewer recognizes the importance and seriousness of words that had been spoken before, even if it were in passing issue. An example: the warning given by Westray (Brad Pitt) to the main character (Michael Fassbender). Another: repeated several times by the colourful such as Hawaiian shirt character Reiner (simply fantastic Javier Bardem) note of fear towards Malkiny (Cameron Diaz).

A similar remark applies to the plot: seemingly insignificant events or actions have enormous consequences - and here is an example of Green Hornet (Richard Cabral) , who accidentally becomes a client of the Counselor. With many intricately woven elements the whole story has been built. More and more events affect the next stone, the stone goes up with a bang and there starts an avalanche. Seemingly chaotic, and as it turns out - in which carefully, deliberately and cold-planned movement of each item. Moreover, despite multiple threads, the spectator does not feel lost, director carefully accelerates and slows down the whole action, so that you can digest the important words and weave together the different events into a complete. Everything has its place and time. There is a place for sex, for violence, love and the cold self-serving. Multilateral catharsis is completed by excellent photographs (made by Wolski) and unobtrusive, floating in the background music. And that is why the movie is complete and finished masterpiece.