#67: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER - TAKE 2

 STARRING: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hally, Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Budget $175 million. Running time 162 minutes.

When Willa Ferguson (Chase Infiniti) goes missing following a police raid on the night of her high school prom, her permanently stoned single-parent father and ex-revolutionary, Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) races off on a relentless search to rescue her from Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn) an obsessive, psychotic hard-core marine who's convinced that Willa is his daughter. With only Willa's sensei, Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio del Toro) to help him, Pat sets forth on a rescue mission whose outcome is anything but certain. 

Here's a link to the original review. 

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/474873268835444248/3915445226366393064

Went to watch this again, before it disappears from our screens. It's often a very rewarding experience to rewatch a film you've enjoyed, sometimes you become aware of a film's flaws and faults and dramatically revise your original score, like Die Another Day when you realise, much to your shame, that rather than being a thrilling and fantastic spectacle worthy of a 9/10 it is in actuality a rather piss-poor, badly plotted, over-the-top, piece of crap worthy of probably a 7/10.

I should point out that for me, a 7/10 is a middling film. I realise that some of you might consider a 5/10 to be middling. But I think all films should aim for a 7/10 as their basic minimum score. 

ANYWAY. What of One Battle After Another? I took Petra who'd I'd tried to take when it first opened but she was reluctant, she seems to have taken against my film suggestions and so it took the combined might of her entire office telling her she should see it to finally make her agree to experience it. 

I was suprised how much of it I had forgotten, or how my brain had editorially broken it down and subtly restructured it. I was immediately stuck by the music, which starts before the opening credits and before the film proper has even begun, both the choice of classic rock and pop music tracks, and later the unsettling discordant strings are used throughout this are simply fantastic. 

The acting too is outstanding, that's across the board, it goes without saying for the likes of del Toro, Sean Penn and DiCaprio, who are acting royalty, but it's Chase Infiniti who deserves special attention. She is the real revelation, she holds our attention and her performance easily matches the three male leads, which considering this is her first film role is astonishing. I think the future is bright for her, I bloody hope so! 

The action throughout is superbly handled and the intense car chase in the final act is truly inspirational. Likewise, the humour is spot-on and although some critics have complained about the Christmas Adventurers Club I think it was perfect. At the end of the day, this film is a social commentary of the utterly corrupt and abhorrent Trump administration, and as such it nails it perfectly. 

The story, simply structured in nevertheless deeply engaging and the 162 minutes speed past and I was completely captivated. I simply can not fault it and watching it again made me realise this is quite possibly The Film of the Year, although you'll have to wait to the end of December to find out if it managed to  finally knock The Phoenician Scheme off the top spot. No spoilers.

Once again this scores a 10/10 from me, and from Petra, who loved every second. Maybe she'll start trusting me again, when it comes to film recommendations.