The time is currently 12:54. My dissertation proposal is non-existent, but I have spent the morning telling myself that watching films involving lawyers is research. It is, okay? My dissertation is on the media portrayal of lawyers. I HAVE TO WATCH FILMS. Although I did just spend the last couple of hours watching a film I thought I may never see again because it just failed to live up to all of my expectations. The Counsellor has to be one of the strangest films I have ever had the pleasure (displeasure?) of sitting through. Alright, I mainly went because Michael Fassbender was in it, but I did have high expectations. It had a stellar cast including the Fassy, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt. The script was by Cormac McCarthy and Ridley Scott was directing. How could this film flop?
Pretty easily is the answer.
The Counsellor is Fassy, a lawyer who is so in love with his girlfriend Laura (Cruz) that he decides the only way to secure her love is to buy her a ridiculously overpriced diamond ring and ask her to marry him. But, he needs money. Enter Pitt, Bardem and Cruz. Each of them have a role in the cash raising fund, and I’m not talking about raiding their piggy banks to help. The money comes from some drug exchanges, but not from a small time drug dealer. It comes from a Mexican cartel instead. What could go wrong?
Everything goes wrong.
The look on Fassy’s face says it all
The rest of the movie follows The Counsellor as he tries to worm his way out of the trouble he has caused himself. He goes from whispering sweet nothings in Penelope Cruz’s ear to running for his life, and all because of a diamond ring. Honestly, a man as good looking as Michael Fassbender could give a girl a Haribo ring for a proposal and I’m pretty sure she would say yes…or is that just me? Regardless, there is something about The Counsellor which just doesn’t work for me. The lines feel forced, the plot is a bit strange, and none of it really makes that much sense. Even the actors seem a bit confused on occasions.
There are strange moments in the film such as Cameron Diaz and a Ferrari (I shall say no more), Javier Bardem’s crazy hair and wardrobe, and Diaz’s pet cheetahs. Confused? I was. It’s a shame because there are some intriguing moments in the film, such as seeing how Mexican drug cartels work. But the motivations the characters have are unexplained and there are some moments which are just too weird to understand. The Counsellor had the makings to be brilliant. It had an all star cast, a quality scriptwriter and director, but it was too messy. What the film needed was a better explanation. Since when did The Counsellor want to become rich? When did he meet all the other characters and become best friends with them? There is something missing in the film.
The Counsellor wasn’t the worst film of 2013. I struggle to think what was, but I am sure there was something worse than that film. Although I shall use it as a reference for my dissertation so maybe I have’t wasted the past couple of hours? I’ll keep telling myself that until the thought becomes true.
Confessions of a Hopeless Law Student 