Despite its who’s who of A-listers populating the cast and award-winning talent behind the camera, “The Counselor” is too vague and unclear to be a great thriller. Ridley Scott’s film is beautiful with desert landscapes and mountain backdrops, but the screenplay by novelist Cormac McCarthy ultimately leaves too much to be desired.
The unnamed Counselor (Michael Fassbender) has fallen in love with the beautiful and innocent Laura (Penélope Cruz). To provide for her financially, the Counselor turns to the drug trade for a high-profit one-time deal involving a Mexican cartel. Everything hits the fan when a prominent cartel member is found decapitated.
The details of the drug deal are left unexplained, leaving many of the characters’ motives murky and questionable.
By the time Cameron Diaz’s character enters the fold, it’s almost impossible to tell how she’s influenced the deal.
The casting, too, is a mixed bag. Fassbender is suitable enough in the title role, given that his amoral lawyer is easily the most uninteresting of the main characters. Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem, however, shine in their roles.
Pitt’s middleman Westray is mysterious and clever, yet he’s only present in a handful of scenes while Bardem’s Reiner rocks crazy, spiky hair and supplies the movie’s best one-liners. In particular, an absurd flashback concerning Reiner is hilariously peculiar.
Unfortunately, Cameron Diaz does not fare as well in what could have been a remarkable role. Playing Malkina, the wise and sinister girlfriend to Reiner, Diaz never seems threatening enough to truly hold any weight in the doomed deal.
McCarthy’s first original screenplay excels in some of the philosophical monologues and outlandish characters, but these players come and go, spouting advice and wisdom about life and greed before leaving the film entirely.
The last 30 minutes are much more exciting with some spectacularly imaginative violence, evoking McCarthy’s classic “No Country for Old Men.”
“The Counselor” could’ve been a bleakly violent and philosophical addition to the thriller genre, but its inexplicable plot and spotty performances from the A-list cast relegate it to something sadly much less.
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