The Counselor (2013)

"Counselor" has sleek surface with less underneath

Warning: The following review contains spoilers.

The players in "The Counselor" run luxurious lives. The vehicles that whip across the camera frame, the attire that flashes like a peacock's plumage, and the heavenly mansions are the locales for much of the film's unfolding. Much like the silver Bentley owned by the titular character, called Counselor (Michael Fassbender), the film itself has a sleek outer shell. Once the hood is lifted, however, the motor doesn't match the casing. "The Counselor" is undoubtedly a beauty to look at and, at times, evocative of shock. Nonetheless, when the raw materials of the machine are scrutinized, the true quality of the film is left for questioning.

In this tale of greed and sex, the screen is dominated by Hollywood's greatest-performing and best-looking, and this is a part of the intrigue. As Counselor rolls around under the sheets with his soon to be fiancé, Laura (Penélope Cruz), the movie opens with a lustfully wondrous note. Also sharing the screen space is Javier Bardem, playing Fassbender's newfound business partner for a massive international cocaine operation, Cameron Diaz, Bardem's cheetah-loving mistress, and Brad Pitt, the liaison to aid Fassbender in properly funneling his cash.

The Counselor, an explosive success as a lawyer, has no prior relevant experience on his résumé when it comes to drug-running. There is a hint of uncertain fear that lingers in the tone of Counselor's voice and Fassbender illustrates his uneasiness with superb subtlety. 

The fragility of his new position is reemphasized frequently. In Cormac McCarthy debut as a screenwriter, cautionary advice emerges as a motif. This comes sometimes in direct form, but often it is divulged through extravagant philosophical conversations between the Counselor and other characters. These grand speeches given by a diamond cutter or a cartel member may appear redundant, but McCarthy packages them well enough that elegance overshadows grandiloquence.

The same assertion could be applied to some of the more foreign material in "The Counselor." Among other things, Cameron Diaz gets personal with a Ferrari, cheetahs are running wild, and heads are rolling. Despite the film feeling dotted with a lack of coherence, I have to say, I didn't really care. The strange material and the heady dialogue was made up for in the well-acted interplay between characters and a well-constructed atmosphere.

"The Counselor" has its clichés certainly (drug operation gone wrong leads to Cartel vengeance), but there is a pleasure in awaiting what is to come, particularly with Diaz's intimidating performance as Malkina. There is no denial that payoffs are telegraphed, often blatantly, throughout the beginning stages in the film, but Malkina's rise in the plot as a destructive force to the drug operation and to Reiner himself is worth happily anticipating. Her success as a character, however, could not be realized without the profound fear that builds in Reiner, exhibited through the show-stealing performance by Bardem.

In a career I haven't seem to find much taste for, Ridley Scott, I believe has created one of his best films of the 21st century. Despite intermittent lack of cohesion, the overindulgence of "The Counselor" is, with its lofty display, is welcomed with thrilling amusement. The devotion of time to each character is more evenly dispersed than conventional classical narrative would allow for, but that's how this story, with its cavalcade of eye-catching characters, should be told.

Film Grade: Soft 7