The latest from Ridley Scott, The Counselor, came out this weekend and it almost immediately became a hot topic in the critical community. I was one of the many critics who gave the film an unfavorable review, but before even Sunday night there was a growing support for the film and writer Cormac McCarthy’s bleak vision.
The best and most even take on the film I have seen yet came today from Devin Faraci over at Badass Digest. His defense of the film isn’t overt with praise and I agree with much of what he has to say, but he is able to embrace the film as a whole where the third act shift retroactively hurt the rest of the film for me. But Devin makes a strong case for the film not wanting to be liked and why that is OK:
“You’re probably not going to like The Counselor.
I don’t mean that as a slight on you; The Counselor is hard to like, and the movie makes no concessions to help the viewer like it. It’s a meeting of the cold, emotionless aesthetic of Ridley Scott and the cold, nihilistic aesthetic of Cormac McCarthy and together they have made a movie that’s as scaly and tough and pretty and, yes, cold as a lizard’s skin. The movie takes place on the Texas/Mexico border and is set mostly in the daytime yet it is endlessly chilly.”
Faraci convincingly defends his position going forward, and while he didn’t turn me around on liking the film after one viewing, he at least reaffirmed a lot of the film’s good qualities that I was enjoying before I wasn’t.
The most interesting part of Faraci’s article comes when he gets into the gender politics of the film and the affect a piece of the female anatomy has on every major player in the picture:
“The sexual politics of The Counselor are strange and, like every other part of the movie, nihilistic. Malkina isn’t just the mastermind of the plot, she’s been the force behind Reiner…Her pussy is ugly and frightening, while Laura – who is as passive as The Counselor, and who is the good girlfriend who exists only to be killed to make the main character feel bad – has a beautiful, enjoyable pussy.”
There is plenty more great and interesting stuff from Faraci in his piece, and he has delivered an essential piece for both the fans and detractors of The Counselor.
