One Battle After Another
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall
Genre: Trumpeting
One Battle After Another is an excellent USA film but not because of its passionate and probable anti-Trumpism stance, which is attracting so much interest, even though the film’s illegal migrant support actions are extreme and likely unrealistic. Mind you, much of American politics right now is difficult to believe or understand anyway, so don’t use that as a reason not to watch the film.
The interactions between all the movie’s characters with their varying intense personalities are even more central to the film. There is a huge range of challenging, complicated and sometimes altering family and working relationships which drive the storyline and will keep you interested for over two-and-a-half hours.
Admittedly, the characters’ interactions are mostly unbelievable and often very violent (hence the title). But hey, in most cases, the more realistic a film is and relevant to your own life, the less interesting it is! Films are almost always escapism and fiction, even when based on a ‘true’ story. The more extreme it is, the more interesting and likely more popular.
Add to that outstanding directing and acting, which in One Battle After Another is universal, and it’s understandable why some movies can be so popular and, in this case, likely to win awards.
Rating: Four-and-a-half maganificent levels
