One Battle After Another
Not since Boogie Nights has Paul Thomas Anderson's filmmaking been as accessible and entertaining as it is in One Battle After Another.
But even with some bracingly relevant political commentary that cuts to the bone of the U.S.’s racist history, tonal inconsistencies and the flip-side of populist creations hamper it from achieving the greatness to which the writer/director may or may not aspire.
A loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, the film gets off to a rip-roaring start tagging along with the revolutionary group the French 75. Whether liberating immigration detention centers, bombing federal buildings or robbing banks, it's a pleasure to ride shotgun for these thrilling (and thrillingly shot) escapades.
Amidst this risky business, "Ghetto" Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (a mesmerizing Teyana Taylor) fall in love and express their passion in amusing ways while on missions. Perfidia also attracts the eye of detention center Capt. Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), whose interest soon becomes an obsession and gives rise (in more ways than one) to the film’s most intriguing dynamic.
After Perfidia gives birth to a daughter, Pat’s requests that she give up The Life and embrace motherhood only intensify her commitment and put the entire movement in jeopardy in surprising and shocking ways. The subject matter and complex human emotions at play in this opening chapter are so rich and full of possibility that one wishes Anderson would stay there for the duration of the film. But go to the future he must, where a different style of engagement awaits.
Jump ahead 16 years, accompanied by a lovely, heartbreaking, and oddly expository needle drop of Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work,” and Pat — now in hiding under the alias Bob and lost in a daze of substance abuse — and his daughter “Willa” (promising newcomer Chase Infiniti) are scuffing by in the sanctuary city Baktan Cross.
All is…well enough, but giving Bob a needed jolt out of his ennui is none other than his old friend Lockjaw. Now a respected colonel, the soldier is offered membership in the white supremacist secret society the Christmas Adventurers Club (“Hail, St. Nick!”) — if his record is indeed as “pure” as he claims. The mere possibility that Willa is his child sends him scrambling to find her, verify the genetics, and eliminate if necessary, and it doesn't take long for Bob’s and Willa’s cover to be blown.
As Lockjaw’s men close in and the surviving French 75 members whisk Willa to safety, One Battle After Another shifts gears to a fascinating middle hour of non-stop action. Aided by Willa’s sensei and fellow revolutionary Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio del Toro, having one hell of a year working with directors named Anderson), Bob is also comically handicapped by his drug-addled brain and its inability to recall important passwords. (Who among us…) Clad in oversized sunglasses and a bathrobe, DiCaprio excels as this bumbling, loving father, and in tandem with del Toro makes a strong case for Cinematic Duo of the Year.
Entertaining and well-crafted as this middle section is, its politics largely take a sideline to the rapid-fire action and its absurdist humor only occasionally arises. Being Pynchon-inspired prevents it from achieving a consistent tonal commitment, a la Anderson's official Pynchon adaptation Inherent Vice. But when the going gets weird, the film is at its best and lays bare the nation’s rotten underbelly in brilliantly satirical ways.
Still, One Battle After Another marks Anderson's second consecutive feature missing the poetic grandeur of There Will Be Blood, The Master, and Phantom Thread. Like Licorice Pizza, his latest film is mostly a lark, albeit one with more to say about the world than that pleasant enough but ultimately disposable hangout movie.
In turn, it lacks the post-screening, wide-eyed feeling of having seen something truly special, which this reviewer felt after exiting Ari Aster’s Eddington, a film that tackles many of the same topics and does so far more effectively. However, Aster’s latest can’t keep pace with Anderson’s on an action- or goofy-names level, so take that for what it’s worth.
Grade: B-plus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, the Fine Arts Theatre, and Regal Biltmore Grande.
(Photo: Warner Bros.)
