Logging

Film: One Battle After Another

A PTA action film lauded by critics and letterboxd viewers as a masterpiece? A movie night out with the boys where PTA and Leo and Chase Infiniti show up to the theater to introduce the film? This should be just about as good as it gets for me at this point in life. And it was a great evening and an enjoyable film.

But a masterpiece? That is the question isn't it? Or, that's the question we are being forced to contemplate in THE DISCOURSE. I would argue too soon to tell and I'll need to watch it at least 1-2 more times to process. But...here are some thoughts-

1) My personal favorite parts of the film are the emotional dad out of place in this new world stuff both from Sean Penn and Leo. But is this masterful? I feel like every B and C level dad action film contains similar jokes and social commentary. Is it elevated here because of the intensity of Leo and Penn's performances? I suppose. Does it have more prestige power? For sure. Is it particularly innovative or insightful? Not really. But I still really like it.

2) The camera work and scene work is alive and playful and the film itself propulsive. It didn't drag. I was pulled along the entire time. For that, the film should be lauded. I have no hesitation about wanting to go back to watch the movie a second time in the theater. Maybe that's an indication of a masterful work...probably the best indication, actually. 

3) The plot and social commentary. Here's where I differ most from the consensus. While I see how people feel argue the film is very "of the moment," I think the movie has nothing to do with how it feels to be alive right here and right now. And perhaps this is my biggest gripe with the film. For all the contemporary themes and superficial relevance, this feels like a hallucination of a world that doesn't even remotely exist. In other words, I don't buy it. A white power secret organization? A black nunnery? A weather underground type of terrorist network? As compared to say, Eddington, these storytelling elements feel caught between a Roger Moore James Bond film and There Will Be Blood.

4) The Comedy. Yes, the theater laughed. People keep saying the film is funny. I laughed at moments. But let me be honest here - the laughs felt a bit like being at a party where other folks are high and finding something HILARIOUS and you're laughing, but not from deep within the soul. The bits don't seem to me funny on the page. They aren't written jokes, but rather played jokes. They depend on the performances so much. On some level, credit must be given to PTA to get that humor out of the serious actors but again...we come back to the masterpiece question. A masterpiece would have better writing. There, I said it.

5) The Car Chases. Some of the best and most innovative I've ever seen and one of the main reasons I would like to watch the film again.