The Counselor is one of those movies that I simply feel is best experienced first hand. In a perfect world you would just watch it never having seen a trailer or read a review. It has a lot going for it even though, for me, the writing does seem forced at times.
The cast is impeccable and some of the writing is actually brilliant. I will leave it to you to decide whether you like it or not. I think a second or third watching has the potential to make you a little more cynical about the movie because you could begin to see some of the points critics have made.
But. Nothing can take away the first watching of this movie. A gritty chess game played by the aging Cameron Diaz who is a very long way from Charlie’s Angels in this cat and mouse thriller. Or should I say Cheetah and Rabbit. This is a delicious role for her!
Michael Fassbender is holding on for dear life in every scene he does with Javier Bardem trying to hold his own. Javier is such an incredible presence on screen and very difficult to ignore in any scene.
My favourite passage from the movie is The Diamond Dealer speaking to The Counselor who is buying a diamond to propose to his girlfriend.
“This is a cautionary stone, although I suppose every diamond is cautionary. That’s not a small thing to wish for, however unattainable, to aspire to the stone’s endless destiny. Isn’t that the meaning of adornment? To enhance the beauty of the beloved is to acknowledge both her frailty and the nobility of that frailty. We announce to the darkness that we will not be diminished by the brevity of our lives. That we will not thereby be made less.”
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I would love to know if you saw this movie and what your impressions of it are!
Have a great day,
It's the only one we have!
Bug