The Counselor

The Counselor

Rated R and Released in Grand Rapids 10/25/13

Reviewed 10/28/13 at Celebration North in Grand Rapids, MI

with Gary

1 1/2 out of 5 Js in QUIET Rating System

Gary and I were very hard on this movie. With the cast and director Ridley Scott, we anticipated a good film. With the likes of Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz and Michael Fassbender, The Counselor should be at least respectable.

Well it wasn't. Choppy and muddled all the way through, it left us feeling like we were missing too much of the story. Don't the creators go back and watch these in completion before releasing to the public? It was like director Scott yelled "cut" and then it was distributed to theatres.

The Counselor (Fassbender) is a corrupt yet naive attorney who wants in on some extracurricular business with unsavory Reiner (Bardem). Reiner has a flashy lifestyle jet setting in Mexico with his sleazy sex pot girlfriend Malkina (Diaz). When the sweet Laura (Cruz) becomes engaged to The Counselor and is presented with a big flashy diamond, there is supposed to be some significance as she shows it to Malkina lounging by the pool. At this point you can start to get the picture of who is evil around the circle, but that might be all you get. Entering the picture is Westray (Pitt) who is a seasoned liaison between the different groups of drug traffickers. He has all kinds of advice for The Counselor and it's basically "get out now before it all goes South, or have your exit plan". He had one, but no one else did. Before he hardly finishes the sentence, things start to fall apart and fast. People are getting double crossed by the double crossers as the body count escalates rather rapidly. The bottom line is the cartel wants their money - drugs or no drugs. If you cross them there is no compromise or restitution. The story wraps up rather hastily, but not as hastily as we exited with disappointment. You could skip seeing this one altogether. Or for a lull in the movie stream at home it might be okay...if you are really hopeless in finding anything else.

QUIET Rating system: 1½ Js

Quality: JJ

Understood story:  j

Interest: Jj

Entertainment:  J

Time:  JJ