Grade: B-
Along the border between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico lies arid deserts and death. Wandering out in those watchful sands is Ridley Scott’s “The Counselor,” a middling moral tale written by novelist Cormac McCarthy.
The Counselor (Michael Fassbender, “Shame”) is the man whose job it is to deal between death, dealers and charlatans. Unfortunately, he becomes attracted to the greed of Reiner (Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”), a drug kingpin living an extravagantly lavish lifestyle, and Westray (Brad Pitt, “World War Z”), a weathered nihilist who deals in the same drug trade.
Once a deal involving a missing shipment of cocaine goes wrong, The Counselor, Westray and Riener must face the wrath of brutal drug cartels.
McCarthy, who is known for his work on he border trilogy and “The Road,” continually hammers away with long philosophical monologues throughout the film.
The general aesthetic, even for Scott, is unevenly paced though shot with a meticulousness, drawing parallels with its spiritual cousin “No Country for Old Men.” This unevenness in these dispassionate vestiges eat away at any fluidity in “The Counselor.”
Though not without its own merits, McCarthy has a fine eye for morality plays as the Counselor’s life spins into a deeper tragedy.
“The Counselor” isn’t a film where characters take action, this is a case where every piece has already been moved. The endgame has been quantified and sentenced. What’s left is the distribution of grisly punishments, leaving no escape from the seemingly omnipotent forces of the drug cartels.
It’s the second half of the movie that is arguably the most gripping and the peak of the film, providing the most intriguing moments of “The Counselor.”
Furthermore, McCarthy has a flair for perverse gallows humor and dramatic irony. The Counselor is always being counseled by other characters on what to do as his life spirals into a deep pit of despair, Riener falls for the woman who would cause his downfall, and Westray can run from his seedy life and occupation, but not from his vices.
Life is not created by the characters who inhabit McCarthy’s work, they just live in the world they created for themselves. It is an unruly beast of a film, which presents the same running notion Matteo Garrone’s “Gomorrah” had postulated.
Drug syndicates have created their own cycle of destruction. Garbage in. Garbage out. “The Counselor” tells this story well, if only for the unfurling consequences that befall those who’ve created their own vengeful world of self-recrimination.
