One Battle After Another
Leo is back folks, and his new film One Battle After Another is hilarious and wildly entertaining, with some great performances all around.
The plot is a very unique idea, but at times it does get repetetive, especially towards the end, making an almost 3 hour movie, which realistically could have been just over 2 hours. But besides that, the idea is captivating, and gives the audience a very strong message, with some very good characters.
The acting, is amazing. Leo gives a strong performance as Bob, but is overshadowed by the absolutely majestic, angelic performance by Sean Penn, who makes one of the most vile human beings look goofy and funny. The supporting cast is also very good, with some very minor characters being quite memorable in the end.
Paul Thomas Anderson directed this film quite well, however, I felt that the cinematography was a bit weird and drawn out, especially with the car chase at the climax, although I must give PTA some credit for co-writing the movie, because I am sure he did great in that respect.
Finally, for the entertainment value, it is nothing short of brilliant, there were some moments where I genuinely was on the edge of my seat, and the comedy is legitimately something special. With how dark the message of One Battle After Another is, the amount of just goofy jokes in this movie was surprisingly high, especially considering how dark this movie really could have been. But it manages to balance these intense, humorous and dark themes all together to create on of Paul Thomas Anderson’s best movies yet.
Overall, One Battle After Another is an instant classic that should be talked about more, if you haven’t seen it, then I highly recommend you do. It is one of the best movies of the year for sure.