One Battle After Another, 2025.
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti.
SYNOPSIS:
Paul Thomas Anderson’s instant classic One Battle After Another arrives on 4K Ultra HD. The film is a blast and it, of course, looks great, but the lack of bonus features is a bummer. You do get a code for a digital copy, though.
I haven’t read Vineland, the Thomas Pynchon novel which inspired Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, but I’ll have to rectify that one of these days. (I actually haven’t read any Pynchon, which, yikes, yes, I need to address.)
I assume, though, that having read that book isn’t a requirement for this film, which, like many of the director’s other movies, has a bit of a 70s vibe to it. I’ll admit Anderson can be hit-or-miss for me, but this one was a hit.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as “Ghetto” Pat Calhoun, who belongs to a violent revolutionary group known as the French 75 with his girlfriend, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor). When the pair have a baby together, Perfidia abandons Pat and the baby to continue her violent activities.
Perfidia is arrested for the murder of a security guard and she enters witness protection, supplying the information that Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), who had an earlier sexual encounter with her, uses to kill her comrades. Pat and the baby, Charlene, are able to go into hiding under the names Bob and Willa Ferguson.
That’s act one, which sets up the rest of the story, set 16 years later. Pat is now a paranoid stoner who’s overly protective of teenage Willa (Chase Infiniti), while Lockjaw wants to join a white supremacist secret society called the Christmas Adventurers Club and decides to kill Willa to hide the evidence of his encounter with Perfidia.
When Lockjaw and his troops show up in the town where Bob and Willa live, the chase is on as Bob enlists the help of Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio del Toro), Willa’s Karatedo sensei and someone who is surpisingly able to mobilize others to assist. With a runtime topping 160 minutes, One Battle After Another might seem like a film that drags out its premise, but the story breezes by, living up to its title with a series of increasingly deadly confrontations.
And there’s humor to be found here, too, especially in Bob’s “they’re out to get us” paranoia that Willa soon learns isn’t just the pot talking. He ends up wearing a bathrobe for much of the film, creating a character who’s only a few shades removed from Jeff Bridges’ “The Dude” Lebowski.
The end result is a film worthy of its recent Golden Globe nominations and wins, along with the likely Oscar nods that will be coming soon. Anderson’s use of VistaVision for shooting this movie also helps add to the 70s vibe, and, of course, it looks great in 4K Ultra HD. Yes, that’s expected for a modern film that didn’t need any restoration work.
You won’t find a Blu-ray disc in this package, although you do get a code for a digital copy. However, there are no bonus features anywhere to be found, which is a major disappointment. My understanding is that a Steelbook to be released in the spring will have plenty of extras, but I’m not sure why Warner Bros. thought that was a smart release strategy. I guess they’re hoping for Oscars buzz to fuel sales of that edition.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
