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 her high school prom, her permanently stoned 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.
Directed by the 'good' Paul Anderson, you can tell cause he's got a 'Thomas' in this name, this is a startlingly good film, goddam, perhaps one of the films of the year. It's a breakneck, relentless screwball black comedy whose humour is deep and deeply nuanced. This is nevertheless an action-packed and genuinely thrilling movie that beautifully builds the tension and suspense to a gripping and fantastically satisfying conclusion.
Its politics resonate with the fascistic America we're all currently living through thanks to the orange one, aka Dozy Donnie Dump, and it's easy to see actions of the heavily armoured police force featured in the film as nothing more than 'ICE' in all but name and the theme of a underground railway helping Mexican illegal immigrants seems terribly prescient.
The acting is fantastic, Sean Penn, is superb as Lockjaw filled with menace, ticks and rage and yet at his core is a raw lust for his adversary which is quite extraordinary to witness. Similarly DiCaprio utterly inhabits the role of Pat, a single father doing everything he can to save his daughter. Willa, played by Chase Infiniti is equally as good and she brings a real sense of vulnerability and youthful defiance to the role.
This looks stunning, you can practically taste the sand and the cinematography is as beautiful as the scenery. Anderson directs with true skill and his framing is delightful. Overall this is a thrilling and gripping experience that just builds and builds in threat, menace and action until the conclusion, which is followed by a coda that just seals the whole film with a satisfying and meaty thunk. And aided by humour as dry as the desert. Damn it, I can't fault it.
10/10
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