This is topic The Counselor (2013) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-19-2013, 06:13 PM:
 
The Counselor, featuring an all-star cast of Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz, is Ridley Scott’s adaptation of the book with the same name by Cormac McCarthy (also known for No Country for Old Men and The Road). Full disclosure: I didn't read the book.

Ridley Scott knows how to direct a movie, Cormac McCarthy knows how to write a compelling story* and all those actors know how to act. So, it’s kind of bewildering how the movie ended up being the mess it is.

The presentation itself was also was quite a mess, besides a noisy, cellphone-addicted crowd, the front right channel was almost absent and for whatever reason, the sound dropped out completely four or five times during the show. There was no popping sound or the picture freezing, it just went away completely for a second or two.

The Counselor (Michael Fassbender), needs to impress his trophy girlfriend (Penélope Cruz). His cash-burning life style, needs to be fed with some quick and dirty cash. Although being warned by almost every character in the movie about the potential consequences, he decides to go ahead and do a high-profile drug deal with the help of a few of his clients. Obviously, this deal goes awry and the consequences start to unravel...

The movie spends an awful lot of time on stuff that doesn’t add anything to the story: A lengthy shot of a diamond expert in Amsterdam, some utterly boring and sleazy sex scenes and a bunch of wise men that only increase the pedantic tone of the movie. Almost nothing adds to the depth of the story or characters or builds any tension at all.

After having survived almost two hours of borefest, the “open” ending comes as a slap in the face. Thanks for nothing, Ridley...

* This movie is a prime example of the fact that a good storyteller doesn't automatically make a good screenwriter.
 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 11-20-2013, 10:11 AM:
 
supposedly there is a scene with Cameron Diaz getting jiggity with a car ... okay my interest is piqued now
 

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Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 11-21-2013, 11:33 AM:
 
Yes, there is... Actually she's getting "jiggity" with the windshield of a car, alongside a rather graphic description of how it's supposed to look like from the other side of the windshield...

So, now you really wanna go see that good movie, don't you?
 

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Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 11-21-2013, 04:35 PM:
 

quote: Marcel Birgelen

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So, it’s kind of bewildering how the movie ended up being the mess it is

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