Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

One Battle After Another  

This film will be studied for decades to come! Now Paul Thomas Anderson people know is one of the greatest directors to ever work on the craft of filmmaking he constantly is finding new and creative ways to bring his stylistic stories to the screen. Here we have him covering the story of revolutionaries  that rise against the government and those that try to hold them down while also being a film that is about love and family Now this film has already caused waves in the film community for it’s craftsmanship and just the way the film is presented on a technical scale is truly breathtaking. It also will cause quite a stir in terms of its political stance and I think that is fine as this film does have quite a lot of political themes to it and it is able to poke fun at certain groups that take themselves far to seriously while also discussing the larger issue at hand and holding a magnify glass to it which I admired greatly. This has solid performances from top top to bottom and may be a top 3 best of all time from Paul Thomas Anderson this film is a masterpiece on every degree and at the core of it though it is about love and family and is able to show the tenderness among the chaos going on One Battle After Another is thrilling.   

Firstly, This film as I said will cause quite the impact with political parties due to the statement it makes with the film but I love Paul Thomas Anderson’s approach to it as he is able to show both the absurdity in it and show how odd it is while also showing the brutality of the situation that sticks with you. He holds no punches and shows it for how it is terrifying, at times oddly comedic in the way they take themselves too seriously but the film never veers into comedic territory it is able to walk a fine line between comedy and hard hitting drama. The film is so many things it blends genres of pulse pounding action, Espionage, comedy and then drama and all of them meld into each other in a way that compliments each other they never feel out of sorts even slightly. As Paul Thomas Anderson is able to play with the tones of this film so much but they all fall into place beautifully. The film takes on the backdrop of these revolutionaries that go to the absolute extremes at points to make their political message heard and then it is able to also operate as a father daughter dynamic film that is about wanting to show how one is committed to a loved one and how far your willing to go to show that person you care. Now the pursuit of getting to that final frame is the fun part as the journey to it is a hell of a ride as Paul Thomas Anderson and the whole team involved created this manic and high wired act that crackles in every frame that you have no idea what is going to be thrown at you next in terms of conflict for the characters. The film many will find comedy within the material but the laughs come out of those serious moments snd large part due to the way Paul Thomas Anderson writes dialogue in such a sharp way that can mix comedy and drama and have the audience laugh at things that one normally wouldn’t laugh at but due to the high tense situation he makes it okay for you to laugh at the absurdity of the situation only other two filmmakers I know that can do that well is Scorsese and Tarantino. The film is able to show the divided times between political power and wanting to just be left alone but having to rise up against said authority  when they won’t let people just be. Like I said this film will for sure have a massive affect on people who just wanna call this over political garbage as a way to just make a excuse for themselves because they see themselves too much in the material. It is a film that will be deconstructed and spoken in detail for years to come due to the way the themes are approached and also how all the genres overlap itself in such a well thought out way that just works. Paul Thomas Anderson gives us one of his most politically driven films that swings for the fences and it hits all the marks of one of his most complex films to date with rich writing and terrific exploration of so many themes. 

Secondly, The performances from the whole cast is amazing! First off I wanna give a huge shoutout to Chase Infiniti who makes her first screen performance in this film who is and she gives a terrific performance that goes toe to toe with Leonardo DiCaprio which is no easy feat and she brings this emotional vulnerability and conflicting nature of her place in the world with such fierce passion. She is a force to be reckoned with and gives one of the strongest debut performances I have seen this year next to Miles Caton’s from Sinenrs. I cannot wait to see what is in store from her going forward as she is a natural onscreen and rips through each frame with burning emotion. Then you have Teyana Taylor who plays a brief but deeply impactful role that is brought to the screen with such grit and charismatic energy that you cannot look away. I thought she would be in the film for a lot longer but she has limited screen time but for the scenes she is in she makes quite the impact as when she is onscreen you wanna see more of her due to the great impression she leaves onscreen. She plays this character with such a tough skin that makes it hard for her to open up and express her feelings and she conveys that emotional confusion of the character so well in the limited screen time we get of her. Then their is Sean Penn who plays this racist terrifying villain that is both comedic in many ways without him ever seriously trying a lot of the laughs towards his character comes out of the over the top serious nature of how he goes about trying to tear this family apart. He never makes the performance jokey but is able to dig the character in very serious roots and then have comedy arise out of it in moments which is greatly timed. Sean Penn gives one of his finest onscreen performances with his work in this film as the military man that will stop at nothing to find these revolutionaries.

 Lastly you have the man of the hour Leonardo DiCaprio who gives one of his finest actors as a perfumer in this film he most definitely is  bunching from comedic to dramatic constantly and it jells so well for him as the only other performance that reminds me of his work in this is Wolf Of Wall Street which he also was able to balance the seriousness of it and the over the top nature of it and channel it greatly into his performance which he does once again here playing this over paranoid father that will do anything to keep his daughter safe. DiCaprio gives a sensational turn that is among one of the strongest of his career and one that will be for sure remembered comer award season. everyone in this whole cast all does amazing work even Benicio Del Toro who has a small role but has such a fun time in the film for the time he has their is no weak link in the cast each actor made themselves in ways that made their character memorable.   Lastly, One Battle After Another is one of the best films of the year that tackles serious issues about immigration, Military intimidation and the pursuit of what a father will do to keep his daughter safe as I mentioned this film is very chaotic with how wild the story is but it never looses sight of the intimate nature of what makes this film really connect on a human level and how at it’s roots it is about the human condition and love. Paul Thomas Anderson makes his most ambitious film yet as he has never really delved into the world of politics in the way he has here and some will be split in their thoughts on it but I like that though as it shows that he is willing to really go for it and not always play it safe but have a film with a message and at this point in his career he didn’t have to but he is still finding new ways to entertain audiences in his presentation of storytelling and One Battle After Another is one of his best works to date both from a direction and writing point of view. The film is chock full of great performances and explores the complex nature of the polarizing political times we are in while still giving audience a great sense of escapism in his work. Once Again One Battle After Another is one of his finest works he has put to the screen and if you can see this film on the largest screen you possibly can. I Recommend anyone who is a fan of his films to check this out as it deserves to be seen in a theatre.   

This film centres around a man who was a revolutionary back in the day and his past catches up to him and he must act in order to find his daughter who is in danger   

Rated R : (Pervasive Language|Drug Use|Sexual Content|Violence) 

 Leonardo DiCaprio : DiCaprio gives his finest work well since Killers Of The Flower Moon! Now I always say when I review his performances it is the best work he has given since his previous performance because he always finds ways of topping his previous work. Here he plays a father who has been out of the loop as he used to be heavily involved as a political revolutionary back in the day. Years have gone by and now he has become incredibly paranoid. He is very worried at all times where his daughter is, who she is with, when she will be back as when he was in that past life their was a general lockjaw who he and his wife royally pissed off and not to his knowledge has had a personal vendetta on him and his family since then. What makes DiCaprio’s performance so memorable is his ability to channel this character that is both a paranoid overly cautious man that just wants to live his life but when circumstances become dire and he has to spring into action you see that man that was the revolutionary back in the day spring into action and that part of his brain just ticks back open. Now that is where also the Comedy comes in as he has no idea how to operate in that lifestyle anymore because he hasn’t been involved into it for so long. We see the stress of the situation constantly stressing him out as he is mad at himself not knowing the basic information of how to do these things but he puts himself through the ringer cause he knows his daughter’s safety is important and he will go through whatever stress he has to in order to get to her. Their are again many moments of comedy that is taken out of the dramatic moments and it also is due to the great timing DiCaprio has and knows when how to delver a line with comedic lightness and it worked so well. He plays this burnout dad that has his heart in the right place but is a walking panic attack essentially. DiCaprio surrenders himself to the material and gives a tender, comedically well timed, dramatically deep performance that has serious heart in it and I think it is among one of his best performances because of the great layers of this character he gets to peel back and present so many sides of him. You can see as the film goes on he just starts freaking out more and more as he became a paranoid dad but now all of his concerns have come true and he just wants his daughter home and safe but he knows he has to deal with some unfinished business he thought he laid to rest many years ago. He was a man that was razor sharp focused in the battle of political combat but has since then fried his brain with drugs and booze and Leonardo presents this high octane version of himself where he is constantly on edge and it works so well for this character and it just makes him pop onscreen. Leonardo DiCaprio is a tour de force in this film and soaks in the character from head to toe and gives a staggering performance that is truly outstanding!  

Paul Thomas Anderson : Paul gives one of his strongest films of his career with his work on this film! Now PTA is one of the best singular visual artist working today that has such a distinct style and an amazing body of work that whenever he comes out with a new film people will check it out due to his name being attached to it. He has given so many amazing films over the years and here he gives his most politically charged film yet with One Battle After Another! His last film we saw was a coming of age story about love in LA and here we see him go deep into the political arena with a film about revolutionaries. We see him discuss themes of immigration, political intimidation and retaliation to authority. In a very difficult time politically we are in at the moment this film rings true to a lot of the struggles going on at the moment and it will for sure spark conversation about what he is saying through the film. That being said he also shows the absurd nature of it to a degree and pokes fun at certain political groups and is it subtle? No not really but I respect Paul for going for the jugular like that and really going for it and making a political point with his themes of this film. He also has a great amount of heart and humility in the picture as their is a great message of a father going to no end to ensure the safety of his kid and working tirelessly to make sure she is okay so with all the political stuff going on at the heart of it the film is about a fathers love for his kid. Now their are a ton of other things going on for instance their is a great sequence involving Del Toro going through a building evacuating people in one of the most thrilling sequences of the film but for me the biggest most eye popping sequence of the film Paul showed was a car chase sequence that is among one of the greatest things I have seen filmed all year that left me speechless in the way he crafted it and left me on the edge of my seat the whole team. He also has the antagonist be a military man and yes we have seen that before but he also uses him as a mentor for government intimidation but also their are bits of racism woven into his character as well he is a very complex person and he explores that greatly though that character over the course of the film. Their are some people that will not like this film for the sheer fact that it is politically driven but I respect it because he hasn’t really swung this hard with a strong message in terms like this before with his storytelling and at his age to still wanting to delve into topics he has never done before and keep audiences on their toes with what he does next I find so exciting. He is still finding new avenues and ways of how to explore characters and themes he has yet to delve into. This film has great comedy, action and dramatic depth that will touch your heart it is among one of his best films ever put to screen and Paul Thomas Anderson did a magnificent job!