A review of the new film “One Battle After Another”
A film by Paul Thomas Anderson is never boring and once again he has written, produced and directed a work that is fresh and original, weird but wonderful. It’s four years since we tasted his “Licorice Pizza” but the wait was worth it. None of the characters are credible, instead they are essentially caricatures, and as the narrative develops the whole thing becomes more and more surreal. I found the music too much and too loud, but otherwise the movie is a delight.
At its heart is the relationship between a one-time far-Left revolutionary and his daughter. The father is played by Leonardo DiCaprio who is simply wonderful. His would-be nemesis, a military figure with the ironic name Steven Lockjaw, is portrayed by Sean Penn who is terrific. The mother is the sassy Regina Hall and there is Benico Del Toro as a supporter of the cause. For no obvious reason, the revolutionaries are called the French 75 and then there is a secret society of white supremacists with the ridiculous name Christmas Adventurers Club. It’s that kind of film, never more absurdist than when the DiCaprio figure can’t remember a key password.
Running throughout the work is the explosive issue of immigration which has never been more central to American politics at a time of Donald Trump’s second term in the White House. There are extremists supporting Mexican migrants and a military machine opposing them that might have looked excessive at the time the film was made but not at the time of its release. There is some stunning cinematography and memorable imagery, but it’s long, it’s violent, it’s crazy.