Paul Thomas Anderson is certainly an interesting one to talk about—if he’s not being confused with Wes Anderson or, god forbid, Paul WS Anderson. He’s done favorites of mine like The Master or Boogie Nights, but this entry of his seems to be the one turning the most eyes his way in a while. Between its almost accidentally hyper-pertinent themes and presentation, to bringing back 35mm VistaVision in a big way, there’s certainly a fair bit to talk about when you’ve got One Battle After Another.
Leonardo DiCaprio is our leading man, starting off as part of a far-leftist militia cell (seemingly transplanted from the 1970s—this is an artifact of the Thomas Pynchon book the film is rather loosely based on). Alongside his lover Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), he and the rest of the ‘French 75’ happily embrace a life ranging from detention camp raids to just causing a ruckus—seemingly just for the thrills for some of them. As such, once they inevitably screw things up, Perfidia ends up much too close to the perverse Colonel Lockjaw, played very intensely by Sean Penn who’s certainly unrecognizable here next to Harvey Milk.
Long story short, years later DiCaprio has become a washed-out has been living in his own ganja cloud, with nobody for company besides his daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti). Still, in over their heads and cocky he and his militia might’ve been, it turns out their opposition remains as brutal and obsessive as ever—and when Willa’s existence becomes a bugbear for Lockjaw on account of very unsavory reasons, it’s a blast from the past for everyone.
Suffice to say, there’s a lot of themes of police brutality and anti-migrant mania that, well, syncs up worryingly good on the film’s release. The main thing here is that despite it all, it’s definitely a film that actually shows rather than bluntly strikes you in the face like a lot of works tend to resort to these days. It may take you a moment to figure out just who Lockjaw’s superiors are and what they really want, but then once that clicks, so does everything else behind what he does. On the other hand, we have a good contrast between DiCaprio’s old group who lived for the fast lane but ultimately achieved little, against Benicia Del Toro’s character that takes him in, who seems to have forged actual ties with the local community and is able to provide genuine help and aid for him and others—making a commentary on various types of activism without again slapping you in the face on it.
There’s also a lot to be said for the editing and pacing—it’s a long film, at the better part of three hours, but something’s always happening, people are always moving from place to place, so it all feels earned and doesn’t numb your backside like some others might. This is something you could definitely show in film classes to underscore this particular point.
As such, you have side characters who appear intermittently yet do have a feel unto themselves regardless—and at the heart of it all, it’s all about a somewhat over the hill dad trying to reconnect with his daughter, giving us a solid thread to hold onto through all the madness. Between multi-way car chases and bizarre conspiracies, there’s enough to keep your interest hooked throughout.
This makes One Battle After Another a pretty damn solid entry—there’s not really any major flaws that I can think of, besides one or two plot hooks left hanging at most. Consider this a strong recommendation.
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