Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Benicio Del Toro, and Sean Penn star in a dynamic new film by Paul Thomas Anderson.
Once it gets rolling, One Battle After Another is like a runaway freight train barreling down a steep hill at breakneck speed until it crashes through the finish line.
The opening sequences, however, are extremely chaotic and messy, dominated by the most oversexed domestic terrorist in history. Teyana Taylor bombastically dominates the early scenes as Perfidia, the fierce (and very pregnant) leader of a group that calls itself The Paris 1975. She puts the group’s causes above her personal relationships with Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), a meek bomber, and her impending motherhood.
In the most outrageous case of ‘opposites attract’ in recent memory, Perfidia is instantly sexually attracted to the hardcase and very rigid Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, played by the tight-jawed Sean Penn, affecting the most bizarre physical posture and movement cadence that I’ve ever seen, in real life or on the screen.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson, whose original screenplay was inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, is known for his often staggeringly amazing opening sequences, as in There Will Be Blood. Eventually, it becomes clear that the opening sequences in One Battle After Another, with their wildly chaotic action and uneven tonal approaches, are simply a prelude, an appetizer, a mood-setter, for the primary narrative of the film, which follows some 16 years later.
From a furtive, alert, deadly, and fully committed terrorist, Bob has lapsed into complacence in Colorado, his mind lulled into a continual state of complacent paranoia, dulled by his incessant pot smoking. With Perfidia out of the picture, it’s been up to Bob to raise their daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) as a single father.
Bob has been assiduous about training Willa, but she’s a teenager and wants to hang out with her friends. One night, that all changes, as Bob and Willa must go on the run (separately) from dangerous enemies, primarily Colonel Lockjaw, now commanding a large force of soldiers.
Their stated goal is to capture Bob for the past crimes he committed as part of The Paris 1975 domestic terrorism group, and also to apprehend Willa. Colonel Lockjaw, however, has other, more sinister intentions for them both.
From there, it’s a furious race that accelerates on the fly. On the adventure, the comic angles that were featured prominently in the opening sequences are better integrated into the action-first narrative, which falls into a ‘call and response’ rhythm that is incredibly effective.
The performances are rather fabulous. Benicio Del Toro enters as a very calm, very cool, and very collected Sensei who has been teaching Willa martial arts. He is an unflappable sort of fellow who remains calm under extreme pressure and provides a wonderful counterpoint to DiCaprio’s ‘paranoia proven true, yet still cracking’ Bob, who is driven to recapture his youthful energy by a loving parent’s devotion to his beloved child.
Teyana Taylor animates the opening scenes with her extreme ‘caged animal’ fury, and Regina Hall contributes something like a voice of reason when she arrives in unexpected fashion.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn give searing performances: DiCaprio for his emerging transformation and Penn for his single-minded, twisted brilliance. Chase Infiniti stands easily alongside both of the far more experienced actors, rousing Bob to action, fighting off Colonel Lockjaw, and coming of age with the most radical moves possible.
One Battle After Another is a story of decades. Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn) represents the hardcore conservative 1950s. Perfidia (Teyana Taylor) is a charter member of the liberal, radical 1960s. Bob Ferguson (Leonard DiCaprio) is emblematic of the ‘lapsed into somnolence’ generation of the 1970s. Willa Ferguson (Chase Infiniti) is the modern teenager, adapting better than any of them to changing times and committed to making change happen in her generation, for the benefit of future generations.
The film opens Friday, September 26, throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth multiplex. It will be playing in true IMAX 70MM at the Cinemark 17 in Dallas. For locations and showtimes, and to choose your preferred format, visit the official site. See it as big as you can.
Dallas Film Now. 