The Counselor - A Beautiful Ride through a Dark, Dark Place

While I love almost any movie,  it has to be something spectacular to peak My Beloved's Interest.  A few things I learned at the screening for The Counselor:

• My Beloved  really REALLY likes Cameron Diaz.  God help me if I catch him searching craigslist for yellow convertibles
• The Drug Cartel is very bad.  DO NOT PISS OFF THE DC
• Cheetahs can be tamed and kept as pets
• Michael Fassbender is a very sexy man

 

 A sneak peak of "The Counselor":

My definition of a great movie is one that sticks in your mind for days.  It's the topic of discussion for hours; not only about the movie itself, but about your own life & ways they may seem parallel or shockingly different.  If we use this definition as our measuring stick, then The Counselor is a great movie.  We did talk about it for hours after it ended.  I did think about my own life, my own "moral dilemmas", my own love. The problem is though, no matter how much we talked about, no matter how many times we tried to go from Point A to Point B, we could never get there.  

The Counselor is breathtakingly beautiful.  The opening desert scene drips of leather and wealth beyond your wildest dreams. The homes, the cars, the people, THE STARS - no question.  Spot On.  Over the top opulence.

 

There is GREAT acting - Fassbender is incredibly sexy and very believable.  Brad Pitt, as usual, is perfect in his role.  Penelope is lovable in her innocence and Carmen Diaz is very, very good.  But it is Javier Bardem who steals the spotlight:

As uaual, he knocks it out the park.  I loved his portrayal of  "Reiner"  I love his voice.  He is fantastic.


I also loved the script.  Such poetry:

"Life is being in bed with you - everything else is just waiting."

"If you pursue this road that you have embarked upon, you will eventually come to moral decisions that will take you completely by surprise."

"You're in trouble.  When the axe comes through the door, I'll already be gone"

"You are the world you have created.  When you cease to exist,  this world you have created will also cease to exist."

The music is INCREDIBLE:

As beautiful as all of this is, please be assured. this is a VERY, VERY ugly movie.  The greed and filth which fuels these beautiful lives is paraded around for us all to see.  The violence sneaks up on you, literally.  It is beyond my comprehension and I could not even watch.  As it turns out, neither could My Beloved.  When I asked him if it was horrific, he said "I don't know - I couldn't watch."  

It's a dark ride - this movie.  It's wierd, when I first left the theatre I was not too excited about it.  But the more I thought about it, and asked questions of others who attended the screening, the more it grew on me.  It's worth the $10 ticket - I will say that.  Just pay attention folks.  You must pay attention.  And be prepared to look at yourself in the mirror and think about your own moral dilemmas.  Because you will. I promise you will.