Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz, Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz
Rated R, 117 minutes
Anyone who’s read any of Cormac McCarthy’s novels knows that the author is obsessive about mechanical facts, the Mexican border, and barebones, grisly descriptions of violence. In “The Counselor,” his first feature screenplay, he brings all those elements together, but the product is a surprisingly vacuous story, and veteran director Ridley Scott (“Blade Runner”) grinds the whole thing into the borderland dirt.
The story of a good guy who gets into the wrong business, “The Counselor” follows a wealthy, nameless lawyer (Michael Fassbender, “Prometheus”) as he tries and fails to get his hand into the cocaine trafficking business. His associate Reiner (Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”) is already in the business, but his eccentricities and love of luxury set him apart from the relatively straight-laced lawyer. Reiner’s domineering girlfriend, Malkina (Cameron Diaz, “There’s Something About Mary”), has something overtly sinister about her; we later learn that she’s fiddling with Reiner’s business affairs.
Meanwhile, the lawyer gets some advice from a seasoned pro, Westray (Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”). The gist of the advice is that the lawyer is getting in over his head, but he insists that he can handle the challenges associated with drug trafficking. However, the theft of a cocaine shipment sends the lawyer spiraling into despair as his enemies start homing in on him, looking for answers. And when they put his fiancée, Laura (Penelope Cruz, “Volver”), in danger, the lawyer futilely starts looking for a way to get out of the business and back to his normal life.
It might sound like a pretty straightforward thriller, but McCarthy sees the premise as a vehicle for lofty philosophizing. That would make the film a fascinating take on a generic thriller, if only the philosophy weren’t so dull. Condensed into monologues of rattled-off vagaries, McCarthy’s wisdom is interminable and convoluted. I am, however, somewhat inclined to believe that it hits us this way because of poor script treatment, not a poor script, since McCarthy's style and tone are consistent throughout. There’s a slightly off-key, off-kilter aura about the characters, and their actions are almost surreal; unfortunately, Ridley Scott restricts the actors and scenery to the blandly realistic. He foists logic upon a world intended to be chaotic. It’s a glaring mismatch that has disastrous effects on our willingness to buy into this high-concept game of ideas.
On top of that, some of the actors are phoning it in here. Penelope Cruz, with a nothing part, does nothing of interest. Fassbender tries very hard to emote and goes overboard, turning the lawyer from a sympathetic protagonist into a melodramatic caricature of a tortured soul. Diaz is the same, though Malkina is far less emotional; she has some bite, but too often she gets caught up monologuing, and that villainous power of hers is lost.
It’s not all bleak; Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt are bright spots. The former, sporting yet another terrible hairdo, is likable, serving almost as comic relief, so his fall from grace is the only one that really makes us empathize. And the latter, a master at playing casual know-it-alls, is in regular form. His scenes move at a good pace, which is more than can be said for the others.
To Ridley Scott’s credit, not all of the movie is a tenuous bore. It’s no surprise that the guy who directed “Blade Runner” and “Alien” is still adept at crafting sequences of suspense. When the weapons come out, it doesn’t feel like a generic action movie blitz of bullets and shaky-cam grittiness; instead, Scott shows a much more comfortable hand with those scenes, and it serves him well.
Really, there isn’t much about this movie that’s bad, per se. The problem with “The Counselor” is that it is two different stories – one philosophical, one literal – that don’t come together. McCarthy’s philosophizing and Scott’s pragmatism seem to be in opposition, with a cast of characters in search of purpose stuck in the crossfire. I suppose that’s thematically fitting, but I’m not inclined to think further on it.
Originally published in The Harvard Press on 11/1/13.