At some point as I sat in the theater of 12 or so people, the word “halfway” fell into my head. It applies perfectly to “The Counselor,” Ridley Scott’s latest and not-so greatest film. It felt like The Counselor’s script was halfway done. When the credits began to roll, it felt like the story was halfway there. When all was said and done, it just felt like everyone involved was only halfway committed. Naturally, the results for this “crime thriller” were disastrous at best.
A-list cast doesn’t make up for lack of narrative
If you were curious as to what the story for “The Counselor” is, stay away from the trailers. There are no answers for you there. The film, in essence, deals with a rich, arrogant man simply called The Counselor (Michael Fassbender) getting involved in a drug deal with the cartel that goes, as we can all guess, horribly wrong. The Counselor’s soon-to-be wife Laura (Penelope Cruz) gets unwillingly involved in the gruesome aftermath, and The Counselor learns that every action comes with consequences.
If that doesn’t sound like very much of a story, then yes, you are correct — it’s not. “The Counselor” lacks a real narrative drive. Events sort of just happen because they are “interesting” or “entertaining,” and they never connect to any sort of main storyline that makes any sense. Screenwriter Cormac McCarthy tries to make the film feel like a thriller-mystery hybrid, but it’s just not compelling.
Another problem is that the characters are all very interesting, to say the least, but not very likable or even properly dislikable. It’s an ensemble piece that lacks a true main character. Without this main character to connect us to the dour world “The Counselor” creates, we are simply window-shopping. The acting is very strong despite some bad accent work, but an A-list cast doesn’t make up for a lack of strong narrative.
Fortune cookie talk is unappealing
Surprisingly enough, “The Counselor” has its moments of wit, and Cormac McCarthy packs the dialogue with erudite knowledge and sayings. The film has its fair share of messages about responsibility, arrogance and guilt, but without proper characters to root for, these messages just seem like textbook lessons. In addition, every character speaks like a fortune cookie and sounds utterly ridiculous in the process. Nobody talks like that. They might as well add, “Confucius says,” before they even begin to babble.
Elsewhere, we have some horrible computer-generated imagery (CGI) cheetahs and some painfully graphic sexual scenes. These scenes drag on with little purpose and are incredibly uncomfortable and, frankly, unnecessary. The violence is also over-the-top, with decapitations, throat-slashes and pickled bodies in barrels on display. It adds nothing to the plotline.
“The Counselor” truly lacks excitement. We’re thrown from scene to scene without any build up. Scott, also the director of “Alien, Gladiator and Blade Runner,” is known for his slower pace — but that reaches its stretching point here. It’s all a shame, too. “The Counselor” should’ve been dark, seedy and gripping. It had the pedigree to be so. However, this ends up being a lesson about the importance of having a genuine story and genuine characters to populate that story.
