One Battle After Another
By Joanna Langfield
Paul Thomas Anderson’s thrilling newest excites us, not just as remarkable entertainment, but also as a masterful piece of art.
Drawn from Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel, this adaptation is searingly of today. The action, and there is a lot of it, revolves around Bob, a former radical operative who’s on the lam, a single dad to his now teenage daughter. Things are kinda okay, living off the grid, until Willa is kidnapped. It’s up to Bob to shake off those years of perpetual stoned paranoia and track down the person he loves most in this world.
A heart pounding introduction sets up what becomes a kind of flowing litmus test. Are the “good guys” really doing good, we must ask ourselves. And the “bad guys”, be they military or super-rich white business leaders, are their actions in any way, justified? How do we define masculinity, femininity, fatherhood, patriotism, love? We’ve seen questions, characters like these before. Some may, in fact, say we are living amongst them right now. Anderson takes no shortcuts, pressing buttons we may feel all too strongly, making this a most vibrant, timely work. But he also has quite a bit of fun during this crazy ride. I found myself surprised to be laughing, out loud, at several dazzlingly comic moments.
Leonardo DiCaprio, a whirl of confusion, panic and good intentions, has never been better. You love his Bob, and root for him, even though he carries some serious baggage. But the performance that’s so good it scared me is from Sean Penn, brilliant as an insecure man, brandishing whatever power he can wrestle up. Wonderful performances, too, from Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, Regina Hall and Benicio del Toro.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been so excited by and about a movie. Chock full of goodies, I know I will discover more and more as I watch it again and again. And I can’t wait to do just that.
The Movie Minute 
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