The Counselor: Review
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Rosie Perez, Dean Norris (Rated MA – 117 min).
Be prepared for intimating conversations sure to make your blood run cold! An engaging cinema experience of sex, drugs and murder – I’m surprised the classification board did not allocate an ‘R’ rating to.
Good looking Texas lawyer, simply known as Counselor (Michael Fassbender) is a charming fellow with a calming influence who believes he can handle himself in the world of drug running sin. Wrong. Due to a burgeoning financial situation, he risks his entire normal life existence by orchestrating a massive cocaine shipment. Precise calculations of delivery are tremendously mishandled and Counselor is suddenly the focus of the dirtiest criminals in the cartel province. The murky cruel world of illegal trafficking is full of flamboyant characters he has only ever defended (not been in partnership with). Trust in this business is complicated.
Director Ridley Scott gave Brad Pitt his first big break in the cult ‘Thelma & Louise’ 22 years ago. Here he plays a similar drifter, however, instead of giving sensual satisfaction, he is an expert in homicide. Pitt’s jaded character, Westray describes in great detail about how they eliminate traitors and incompetent business partners to The Counselor. Another day alive is a good day, as the eye of the gathering storm, an assortment of undesirable individuals want this attorney erased.
Pressure mounts running for his life, distractions ruin his train of thought after the introductions of sinister femme fatales, a tattooed vixen Cameron Diaz who keeps a pair of leopards as pets and sultry Penelope Cruz proving impulsive sexual dominance throughout could prove a specific part of his survival, or not! This thriller written by cryptic author, Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men) is an exotic pot boiler, a sharp brutally progressive drama that starts slow, building to a climax of hurricane proportions. Spanish actor Javier Bardem as the ornate nightclub owner Reiner is as wild as the floral shirts he wears, expect the unexpected whenever he is on screen.
Shane A. Bassett
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